Hydroelectricity Generation from Fiber-Oriented Waste Paper via Capillary-Driven Charge Separation

Hydroelectricity energy harvesting has emerged as a promising, eco-friendly alternative for addressing the growing demand for sustainable energy solutions. In this study, we present a hydroelectricity energy harvester fabricated from shredded waste printing paper (WPP), offering a novel waste-to-energy conversion strategy that requires neither material purification nor complex processing. The device leverages the randomly entangled fiber network of WPP to facilitate capillary-driven moisture diffusion and electric double layer (EDL) formation, thereby enabling efficient electrokinetic energy conversion. The random arrangement of WPP fibers increases the effective EDL area, allowing the waste printing paper generator (WPPG) to achieve an open-circuit voltage of 0.372 V and a short-circuit current of 135 μA at room temperature under optimized electrolyte conditions. This study demonstrates that carbon-black-coated WPP can be effectively upcycled into a high-performance hydroelectricity generator, exhibiting excellent electrical output at ambient conditions. By combining material recycling with efficient energy conversion, this system establishes a practical and sustainable pathway for distributed power generation. Overall, this work not only presents an environmentally responsible approach to device fabrication but also highlights that hydroelectricity energy harvesting using WPPG represents a promising alternative energy route for future applications.