Experimental Evidence for Chemo-Electronic Conversion of Water Adsorption on the Surface of Nanosized Yttria-Stabilized Zirconia

Abstract

Direct energy conversion techniques are now dominated by photovoltaics. But, this dominance will be soon challenged by the emergence of a new conversion methods, known as so called "chemovoltaic". Here we demonstrate the possibility of the electric energy generation through interactions of atmospheric moisture and ZrO 2 based nano

Martensitic Phase Transition in Yttrium-Stabilized ZrO2 Nanopowders by Adsorption of Water

“…The thermodynamic approach allows us to draw another important conclusion about the mechanism of T-M transformation in nanoparticles: for it to be realized, it is necessary to change the surface energy of the nanoparticle significantly. The probable mechanisms of this process are associated with a change in the physicochemical and electronic properties of the surface of nanoparticles by adsorbates (OHgroups) (Adsorption mechanism of T-M phase transformation [7][8]12]). Estimates of the corresponding structural parameters (level of microstresses, sizes of unit cells, etc.)…”

“…Thus, Raman spectroscopy confirmed neutron and X-ray diffractions data about adsorption-induced formation of the monoclinic phase in ZrO2-3mol%Y2O3 nanopowders. A probable mechanism of tetragonal-monoclinic phase transformation in ZrO2-nanoparticles was discussed in [7][8] and is showed schematically on Fig. 5.…”

“…It is commonly assumed that in nanoparticles smaller than 30 nm t-m transformations cannot be realized due to the lack of the necessary volume for accumulation of stresses and propagation of the phase transformation front [5,6]. However, the results of [7,8], in which the effect of the so-called "chemoelectronic conversion" was shown, indicates that the t -m transformation still can be able in nanoscale objects. The confirmation of this fact is extremely interesting task as for fundamental science as for applications, in particular, adsorption electronics, alternative energetics and so on.…”

Innovative Evaporative Cooling System Toward Net Zero Energy Buildings

“…The only energy consumption present to this system is a periodical electric pumping of this water from the basement to the ceilings. At the new system of recovering energy from humidity, the maximum power density produced by investigated tablets was estimated around 10 nW/cm 2 [5] but by increasing the density of the ZrO 2 this could arrive up to 1 W/m 2 . In Europe, it has been estimated that around 1.4 million GWh/year can be saved and 400 million tons of CO 2 emissions avoided, in buildings and in industrial sectors by more extensive use of heat and cold storage [6].…”

“…The new system of energy recovery using humidity, presents the possibility of generating electric energy through conversion of moisture adsorption energy on the surface of ZrO2 based on nanopowder systems into electrical charges. Investigated tablets were estimated to produce a maximum power density of about 10 nW/cm 2 [5], developed in the HUNTER project that now is used in the SSHARE project [8].This project is a collaboration of researchers from Portugal, Spain, Ukraine, Belarus, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Azerbaijan and the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research Russian Federation. The water is used for storage of energy during the year due to the high specific heat.…”