Flexible Silicon Carbide Based Nano-generator Driven by Water Evaporation

Abstract

We have prepared a flexible natural water evaporation (NWE) driven silicon carbide (SiC) nano-generator on the polyethylene terephthalate (PET) substrate. When the water driven by evaporation flows through the surface of SiC material, the solid-liquid interaction between water and SiC will induce continuous electricity output. The detail mechanism of the solid-liquid interaction is discussed in this paper. The open circuit voltage (Voc) and short circuit current (Isc) are nearly proportional to the evaporation height and evaporation width of the generator, respectively. Moreover, the Voc and Isc of the generator can be finely controlled by regulating the relative humidity, air flow and photo-thermal energy assistant technique.