Energy Conversion via Metal Nanolayers
| Autor: | Jeongmin Kim, Paul E. Ohno, Franz M. Geiger, Catherine E. Walker, Mavis D. Boamah, Thomas F. Miller, Emilie H. Lozier |
|---|---|
| Jazyk: | angličtina |
| Rok vydání: | 2019 |
| Předmět: |
Materials science
Fabrication FOS: Physical sciences Vanadium chemistry.chemical_element Applied Physics (physics.app-ph) 02 engineering and technology 010402 general chemistry 01 natural sciences 7. Clean energy Metal Thermal Energy transformation Condensed Matter - Materials Science Multidisciplinary Aqueous solution Materials Science (cond-mat.mtrl-sci) Physics - Applied Physics 021001 nanoscience & nanotechnology 0104 chemical sciences Nickel chemistry Chemical physics visual_art Physical Sciences visual_art.visual_art_medium Current (fluid) 0210 nano-technology |
| Popis: | Current approaches for electric power generation from nanoscale conducting or semi-conducting layers in contact with moving aqueous droplets are promising as they show efficiencies of around 30 percent, yet, even the most successful ones pose challenges regarding fabrication and scaling. Here, we report stable, all-inorganic single-element structures synthesized in a single step that generate electrical current when alternating salinity gradients flow along its surface in a liquid flow cell. 10 nm to 30 nm thin nanolayers of iron, vanadium, or nickel produce several tens of mV and several microA cm^-2 at aqueous flow velocities of just a few cm s^-1. The principle of operation is strongly sensitive to charge-carrier motion in the thermal oxide nano-overlayer that forms spontaneously in air and then self terminates. Indeed, experiments suggest a role for intra-oxide electron transfer for Fe, V, and Ni nanolayers, as their thermal oxides contain several metal oxidation states, whereas controls using Al or Cr nanolayers, which self-terminate with oxides that are redox inactive under the experimental conditions, exhibit dramatically diminished performance. The nanolayers are shown to generate electrical current in various modes of application with moving liquids, including sliding liquid droplets, salinity gradients in a flowing liquid, and in the oscillatory motion of a liquid without a salinity gradient. Pre-edited final version, 16 pages main text, 5 figures |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
| Externí odkaz: |
|