Moist-Induced\nElectricity Generation by Electrospun\nCellulose Acetate Membranes with Optimized Porous Structures

Abstract

Harvesting\nenergy from moist in the atmosphere has recently been\ndemonstrated as an effective manner for a portable power supply to\nmeet the ever-increasing demands of energy consumption. Porous materials\nare shown to have great potential in moist-induced electricity generation.\nHerein, we report moist-induced electricity generation by electrospun\ncellulose acetate (CA) membranes with optimized porous structures.\nWe show that the pore size and porosity of CA membranes can be readily\ntuned via a facile compression and annealing process, and the effect\nof pore features on the output voltages can thus be investigated systematically.\nWe find that, at a relatively high porosity, the electricity-generation\nperformance can be further enhanced by constructing a smaller pore\nto form more nanochannels. Porous CA membranes, with an optimized\nporosity of 52.6% and a pore diameter less than 250 nm, are prepared\nto construct moist-induced electricity generators, which can be applied\nas breath sensors and can power up calculator operation. The current\nstudy provides insights for the construction of porous materials with\ndifferent pore characteristics for moist-induced electricity generation,\nespecially in the exploration of more efficient and low-cost porous\nmaterials for large-scale practical application of the portable power\nsupply.