Integrated manufacturing of REciclable multi-material COmposites for the TRANSport sector
Giant Blue Energy Harvesting in Two?Dimensional Polymer Membranes with Spatially Aligned Charges
Novel ion transporting membranes enhance power density during osmotic energy conversion. In this study, positively charged propidium?based 2D polymer membranes are synthesized with both skeleton and intrinsic space charges. When mixing artificial seawater and river water, a great power density of 48 W m?2 is achieved, surpassing the performance of most nanofluidic membranes.Blue energy between seawater and river water is attracting increasing interest, as one of the sustainable and renewable energy resources that can be harvested from water. Within the reverse electrodialysis applied in blue energy conversion, novel membranes with nanoscale confinement that function as selective ion transport mediums are currently in high demand for realizing higher power density. The primary challenge lies in constructing well?defined nanochannels that allow for low?energy barrier transport. This work proposes a concept for nanofluidic channels with a simultaneous dual electrostatic effect that can enhance both ion selectivity and flux. To actualize this, this work has synthesized propidium iodide?based two?dimensional polymer (PI?2DP) membranes possessing both skeleton charge and intrinsic space charge, which are spatially aligned along the ion transport pathway. The dual charge design of PI?2DP significantly enhances the electrostatic interaction between the translocating anions and the cationic polymer framework, and a high anion selectivity coefficient (?0.8) is reached. When mixing standard artificial seawater and river water, this work achieves a considerable power density of 48.4 W m?2, outperforming most state?of?the?art nanofluidic membranes. Moreover, when applied between the Mediterranean Sea and the Elbe River, an output power density of 42.2 W m?2 is achieved by the PI?2DP. This nanofluidic membrane design with dual?layer charges will inspire more innovative development of ion?selective channels for blue energy conversion that will contribute to global energy consumption.
» Publication Date: 09/02/2024
This project has received funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement Nº 768737
