Verification of Carrier Concentration-Dependent Behavior in Water-Infiltration-Induced Electricity Generation by Ionovoltaic Effect

Huding Jin; Junwoo Park; Sun Geun Yoon; Won Hyung Lee; Yong Hyun Cho; Junghyup Han; Zhenxing Yin; Youn Sang Kim

doi:10.1002/smll.202103448

Verification of Carrier Concentration-Dependent Behavior in Water-Infiltration-Induced Electricity Generation by Ionovoltaic Effect

Small. 2021 Nov;17(45):e2103448. doi: 10.1002/smll.202103448. Epub 2021 Oct 5.

Authors

Huding Jin¹, Junwoo Park², Sun Geun Yoon¹, Won Hyung Lee¹, Yong Hyun Cho¹, Junghyup Han¹, Zhenxing Yin³, Youn Sang Kim^{1

4

5}

Affiliations

¹ Program in Nano Science and Technology, Graduate School of Convergence Science and Technology, Seoul National University, Seoul, 08826, Republic of Korea.
² Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, Harvard University, 12 Oxford Street, Cambridge, MA, 02138, USA.
³ Department of Chemistry, Yanbian University, Yanji, Jilin, 133002, China.
⁴ School of Chemical and Biological Engineering, and Institute of Chemical Processes, College of Engineering, Seoul National University, Seoul, 08826, Republic of Korea.
⁵ Advanced Institute of Convergence Technology, Suwon, 16229, Republic of Korea.

PMID: 34611985
DOI: 10.1002/smll.202103448

Abstract

Water-infiltration-induced power generation has the renewable characteristic of generating electrical energy from ambient water. Importantly, it is found that the carrier concentration in semiconductor constituting the energy generator seriously affect the electricity generation. Nevertheless, few studies are conducted on the influence of semiconductor carrier concentration, a crucial factor on electricity generation. Due to this, understanding of the energy harvesting mechanism is still insufficient. Herein, the semiconductor carrier concentration-dependent behavior in water-infiltration-induced electricity generation and the energy harvesting mechanism by ionovoltaic effect are comprehensively verified. A clue to enhance the electric power generation efficiency is also proposed. When 20 µL of water (NaCl, 0.1 m) infiltrates into a porous CuO nanowires film (PCNF), electric power of ≈0.5 V and ≈1 µA are produced for 25 min. Moreover, the PCNF shows good practicability by generating electricity using various ambient water, turning on LEDs, and being fabricated as a curved one.

Keywords: energy band bending; ion adsorption; ionovoltaic effect; semiconductor carrier concentration; water-infiltration-induced electricity generation.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Electricity*
Semiconductors
Water*

Substances

Water