Microalgae Film‐Derived Water Evaporation‐Induced Electricity Generator with Negative Carbon Emission

• Published in: Advanced science Vol. 11; no. 25; pp. e2400856 - n/a
• Main Authors: Xu, Shuo, Zhao, Yuxuan, Jiao, Shipu, Wang, Zhiyun, Yu, Zhen, Sun, Chen, Liu, Xianhua
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Germany John Wiley & Sons, Inc 01.07.2024; John Wiley and Sons Inc; Wiley
• Subjects: Algae; Biomass; Carbon dioxide; carbon emissions; Composite materials; Contact angle; Corrosion potential; Design; Electricity generation; evaporation; Humidity; hydrovoltaic effect; microalgae; Polyethylene terephthalate; Water; microalgae; carbon emissions; hydrovoltaic effect; evaporation; electricity generation
• ISSN: 2198-3844; 2198-3844
• DOI: 10.1002/advs.202400856

Water evaporation–induced electricity generators (WEGs) are regarded as one of the most promising solutions for addressing the increasingly severe environmental pollution and energy crisis. Owing to the potential carbon emission in the preparation process of WEGs, whether WEG represents a clean electricity generation technology is open to question. Here, a brand‐new strategy is proposed for manufacturing negative carbon emission WEG (CWEG). In this strategy, the microalgae film is used as the electricity generation interface of WEG, which achieves a stable open‐circuit voltage (Voc) of 0.25 V and a short‐circuit current (Isc) of 3.3 µA. Since microalgae can capture carbon dioxide during its growing process, CWEG holds great promise to generate electricity without carbon emissions in the full life cycle compared with other WEGs. To the best of the author's knowledge, this is the first work using microalgae films to fabricate WEG. Therefore, it is believed that this work not only provides a new direction for designing high‐efficiency and eco‐friendly WEG but also offers an innovative approach to the resource utilization of microalgae. A brand‐new strategy is designed for manufacturing negative carbon emission water evaporation‐induced electricity generators (CWEG), in which the microalgae film is used as the electricity generation interface. Compared with traditional ones, CWEG holds great promise for generating electricity without carbon emissions in the full life cycle.