Micro/nanofluidics-enabled energy conversion and its implemented devices

Abstract

Most people were not aware of the role of energy as a basic force that drives the development and economic growth of the world until the two great oil crises occurred. According to the conservation law, energy not only exists in various forms but is also capable of being converted from one form to another. The common forms of energy are mechanical energy, chemical energy, internal energy, electrical energy, atomic energy, and electromagnetic energy, among others. The fluids in nature serve as the most common carriers and media in the energy conversion process. Following the rapid development of microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) technology, the energy supply and conversion issue in micro/nano scale has also been introduced in research laboratories worldwide. With unremitting efforts, great quantities of micro/nano scale energy devices have been investigated. Micro/nanofluid shows distinct features in transporting and converting energy similar to their counterpart macroscale tasks. In this paper, a series of micro/nanofluid-enabled energy conversion devices is reviewed based on the transformation between different forms of energy. The evaluation and contradistinction of their performances are also examined. The role of micro/nanofluid as media in micro/nano energy devices is summarized. This contributes to the establishment of a comprehensive and systematic structure in the relationship between energy conversion and fluid in the micro/nano scale. Some fundamental and practical issues are outlined, and the prospects in this challenging area are explored.