Related Experiment Video
Updated: Feb 14, 2026

Scalable Syntheses of Graphene Oxide and Reduced Graphene Oxide using Cascade Design Oxidation and Highly Basic Reduction Reactions
Published on: July 3, 2025
Electric Power Generation through the Direct Interaction of Pristine Graphene-Oxide with Water Molecules
Tong Xu1, Xiaoteng Ding1, Changxiang Shao1
1Beijing Key Laboratory of Photoelectronic/Electrophotonic Conversion Materials, Key Laboratory of Cluster Science, Ministry of Education, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Beijing Institute of Technology, Beijing, 100081, P. R. China.
Abstract:
Converting ubiquitous environmental energy into electric power holds tremendous social and financial interests. Traditional energy harvesters and converters are limited by the specific materials and complex configuration of devices. Herein, it is presented that electric power can be directly produced from pristine graphene oxide (GO) without any pretreatment or additives once encountering the water vapor, which will generate an open-circuit-voltage of up to 0.4-0.7 V and a short-circuit-current-density of 2-25 µA cm-2 on a single piece of GO film. This phenomenon results from the directional movement of charged hydrogen ions through the GO film. The present work demonstrates and provides an extremely simple method for electric energy generation, which offers more applications of graphene-based materials in green energy converting field.
Related Concept Videos
Electrical Power
Oxidation and Reduction of Organic Molecules
The removal of an electron from a molecule, results in a...
Electric Generator: Alternator
The magnetic flux passing through the coil varies sinusoidally as the loop rotates inside the magnetic field. This...
Nuclear Power
Nuclear Fuels
Nuclear fuel consists of a fissile isotope, such as uranium-235, which must be present in sufficient quantity to provide a...
Pyruvate Oxidation
First, the enzyme pyruvate dehydrogenase removes the carboxyl group from pyruvate and releases it as carbon dioxide. The stripped molecule is then oxidized and releases electrons, which are then picked up by NAD+...
Oxidation Numbers

