All day Limnobium laevigatum inspired nanogenerator self-driven via water evaporation

Abstract

Owing to its high conversion efficiency of solar energy and transformative industrial potential, solar-driven interfacial evaporation has been proposed as a promising alternative to conventional bulk heating-based evaporation, potentially reducing thermal losses and improving energy conversion efficiency. By using the process of plant transpiration, we developed here the Limnobium laevigatum inspired nanogenerator (LLN) made of multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWNTs)-coated cellulose paper-located on Polystyrene (PS) foam that can float on water surface with high electricity generation and excellent freshwater production in water-rich locations such as lakes, rivers, and oceans at all hours of the day. LLN can achieve a high power density of over 50 mW m−2 and procedure freshwater at high evaporation rates of 1.48 kg m−2 h−1 during the daytime and 0.58 kg m−2 h−1 in the night, at an ambient temperature of 20 °C and humidity of 40%. The maximum power density of an LLN can be as high as 248.57/107.38 mW m−2 with a NaCl solution of 0.6 M under 1-sun/0-sun conditions that is expected the same value for seawater. The LLN can support useful power in offshore locations or deserted islands.