Oscillating light engine realized by photothermal solvent evaporation

Jingjing Li; Linlin Mou; Zunfeng Liu; Xiang Zhou; Yongsheng Chen

doi:10.1038/s41467-022-33374-x

Oscillating light engine realized by photothermal solvent evaporation

Nat Commun. 2022 Sep 24;13(1):5621. doi: 10.1038/s41467-022-33374-x.

Authors

Jingjing Li^{1

2}, Linlin Mou³, Zunfeng Liu⁴, Xiang Zhou⁵, Yongsheng Chen⁶

Affiliations

¹ Department of Science, China Pharmaceutical University, Nanjing, 211198, China.
² College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Anyang Normal University, Anyang, Henan, 455000, China.
³ State Key Laboratory of Medicinal Chemical Biology, Key Laboratory of Functional Polymer Materials, Frontiers Science Center for New Organic Matter, College of Chemistry, Nankai University, Tianjin, 300071, China.
⁴ State Key Laboratory of Medicinal Chemical Biology, Key Laboratory of Functional Polymer Materials, Frontiers Science Center for New Organic Matter, College of Chemistry, Nankai University, Tianjin, 300071, China. liuzunfeng@nankai.edu.cn.
⁵ Department of Science, China Pharmaceutical University, Nanjing, 211198, China. zhouxiang@cpu.edu.cn.
⁶ State Key Laboratory of Medicinal Chemical Biology, Key Laboratory of Functional Polymer Materials, Frontiers Science Center for New Organic Matter, College of Chemistry, Nankai University, Tianjin, 300071, China. yschen99@nankai.edu.cn.

Abstract

Continuous mechanical work output can be generated by using combustion engines and electric motors, as well as actuators, through on/off control via external stimuli. Solar energy has been used to generate electricity and heat in human daily life; however, the direct conversion of solar energy to continuous mechanical work has not been realized. In this work, a solar engine is developed using an oscillating actuator, which is realized through an alternating volume decrease of each side of a polypropylene/carbon black polymer film induced by photothermal-derived solvent evaporation. The anisotropic solvent evaporation and fast gradient diffusion in the polymer film sustains oscillating bending actuation under the illumination of divergent light. This light-driven oscillator shows excellent oscillation performance, excellent loading capability, and high energy conversion efficiency, and it can never stop with solvent supply. The oscillator can cyclically lift up a load and output work, exhibiting a maximum specific work of 30.9 × 10^-5 J g^-1 and a maximum specific power of 15.4 × 10^-5 W g^-1 under infrared light. This work can inspire the development of autonomous devices and provide a design strategy for solar engines.