Seawater desalination (SD) is regarded as one of the most effective solutions to the shortage of fresh water in many desert and island areas. However, high energy consumption and environmental pollution impede its development. Herein, a self-powered seawater desalination (SP-SD) system is proposed to reduce energy consumption and environmental pollution by using a wind-driven radial-arrayed rotary triboelectric nanogenerator (RAR-TENG). As expected, the SP-SD unit achieves a high desalination capacity of 10.5 mg/h for the 0.17 M NaCl solution at a rotation speed of 350 rpm with a hydrogen (H2) production rate of 5.6 × 10-4 mL/s, which is superior to most previous reported results. Moreover, the SP-SD system could easily reach a desalination capacity of 2.4 mg/h at a low wind speed of 6 m/s by using natural wind energy. This wind-driven SP-SD system contributes an innovative approach to the field of environmental electrochemistry.
Keywords: electrodialysis; hydrogen production; sea water desalination; triboelectric nanogenerator; triboelectrification.