Spatial Decoupling Strategy Enhanced Ionic Liquid?Confined Porous MXene for Breakthrough Osmotic Energy Conversion

An ionic liquid confined porous MXene (IPM) osmotic energy conversion system is constructed. The ion transport dynamics in the MXene nanofluidic channel are optimized at the microscopic level, and the spatial decoupling design is used at the macroscopic level to greatly suppress the ion concentration polarization effect. The maximum output power of a single device reached 3.47 µW, which is nearly ten times higher than that of similar work.The potential of reverse electrodialysis for harvesting osmotic energy is severely limited by ion concentration polarization (ICP), a phenomenon that restricts power output and confines the technology to the laboratory scale (< 0.4 µW). This challenge is overcome with an ionic liquid confined porous MXene (IPM) system that integrates strategies across two scales. At the microscopic level, sub?nanometer channels are engineered using porous MXene and confined ionic liquids to reduce mass transfer resistance and optimize ion transport. Concurrently, at the macroscopic level, a micropore array design spatially decouples the diffusion interfaces to effectively suppress the ICP effect. This dual?scale approach increases power density by 53.6% and achieves a maximum output power of 3.47 µW, which is nearly ten times higher than that of similar work. The work demonstrates a robust pathway for overcoming critical power limitations, advancing osmotic energy conversion toward industrial renewable energy applications.

» Publication Date: 22/10/2025

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This project has received funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement Nº 768737


                   




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