Moisture-induced autonomous surface potential oscillations for energy harvesting

Abstract A variety of autonomous oscillations in nature such as heartbeats and biochemical reactions have been widely studied and utilized for applications in the fields of bioscience and energy technology, etc. Here, we report a unique phenomenon of moisture-induced electrical potential oscillations on P(MEDSAH-co-AA) polymers during the diffusion of water molecules. Using the moisture in the ambient environment as the activation source, this self-excited chemoelectrical reaction could have broad influences and usages in surface-reaction based devices and systems. As a proof-of-concept demonstration, an energy harvester is constructed to demonstrate the continuous energy production for more than 15000 seconds with an energy density of 16.8 mJ/cm2. A 2-Volts output voltage has been produced to power a liquid crystal display (LCD) with five energy harvesters connected in series toward practical applications.