Hierarchical Bilayer Polyelectrolyte Ion Paper Conductor for Moisture-Induced Power Generation

Harvesting energy from air water (atmospheric moisture) promises a sustainable self-powered system without any restrictions from specific environmental requirements (e.g., solar cells, hydroelectric, or thermoelectric devices). However, the present moisture-induced power devices traditionally generate intermittent or bursts of energy, especially for much lower current outputs (generally keeping at nA or μA levels) from the ambient environment, typically suffering from inferior ionic conductivity and poor hierarchical structure design for manipulating sustained air water and ion-charge transport. Here, we demonstrate a universal strategy to design a high-performance bilayer polyelectrolyte ion paper conductor for generating continuous electric power from ambient humidity. The generator can produce a continuous voltage of up to 0.74 V and also an exceptional current of 5.63 mA across a single 1.0 mm-thick ion paper conductor. We discover that the sandwiched LiCl-nanocellulose-engineered paper promises an ion-transport junction between the negatively and positively charged bilayer polyelectrolytes for application in MEGs with both high voltage and high current outputs. Moreover, we demonstrated the universality of this bilayer sandwich nanocellulose-salt engineering strategy with other anions and cations, exhibiting similar power generation ability, indicating that it could be the next generation of sustainable MEGs with low cost, easier operation, and high performance.