Ion-Engine Hydrogel Based Solar Desalination for Water-electricity Cogeneration with Record-Breaking Milliampere Current

Ion-Engine Hydrogel Based Solar Desalination for Water-electricity Cogeneration with Record-Breaking Milliampere Current | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Article Ion-Engine Hydrogel Based Solar Desalination for Water-electricity Cogeneration with Record-Breaking Milliampere Current Liangti Qu, Yu Chen, Chengwei Ye, Jiajun He, Shaochun Tang This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-5990293/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Published Journal Publication published 24 Nov, 2025 Read the published version in Nature Communications → Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Seawater evaporation-induced electricity generation (SEG) holds significant potential for addressing the global energy and freshwater crises. However, the poor ion selectivity of conventional SEGs leads to an extremely low output current (<10 µA) due to the complex composition of seawater. To overcome this bottleneck, we herein develop a novel ion-engine hydrogel based solar-powered SEG (SSEG), achieving a record-breaking output current of 1.2 mA from seawater under AM1.5G illumination, surpassing previously reported SEGs by 1 to 2 orders of magnitude. Molecular dynamics simulations reveal that the unprecedented current arises from strong synergistic effects of metal-polymer coordination and ion-preferential association within ion-engine hydrogel, which enhances anionic conductivity as well as selectively blocks the Debye shielding effect of cations. As a result, a simply integrated SSEG system operating outdoors can generate power up to 24 mW, demonstrating the feasibility of practical application for powering electronics such as mobile phones, while simultaneously producing freshwater at a high-yield of 2.64 kg m -2 h -1 . Additionally, the unique ion modulation mechanism boosts the regeneration potential of waste concentrated brine by-products in SSEG systems, enabling the recovery of up to 16.3 W m -2 of blue energy through reverse electrodialysis, which further improves the sustainability and economic value. This work demonstrates a new paradigm for developing off-grid integrated water-energy cogeneration systems. Physical sciences/Materials science/Materials for energy and catalysis Physical sciences/Energy science and technology/Energy harvesting/Devices for energy harvesting Physical sciences/Chemistry/Polymer chemistry/Coordination polymers Seawater evaporation water-electricity cogeneration ion-engine hydrogel record-breaking current salinity-gradient energy. Full Text Additional Declarations There is NO Competing Interest. Supplementary Files SupplementaryMaterial.docx Supplementary Materials Cite Share Download PDF Status: Published Journal Publication published 24 Nov, 2025 Read the published version in Nature Communications → Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. 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Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-5990293","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":418489309,"identity":"4020fe27-9bc8-4d33-ae27-a451daef11fd","order_by":0,"name":"Liangti 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However, the poor ion selectivity of conventional SEGs leads to an extremely low output current (\u0026lt;10 µA) due to the complex composition of seawater. To overcome this bottleneck, we herein develop a novel ion-engine hydrogel based solar-powered SEG (SSEG), achieving a record-breaking output current of 1.2 mA from seawater under AM1.5G illumination, surpassing previously reported SEGs by 1 to 2 orders of magnitude. Molecular dynamics simulations reveal that the unprecedented current arises from strong synergistic effects of metal-polymer coordination and ion-preferential association within ion-engine hydrogel, which enhances anionic conductivity as well as selectively blocks the Debye shielding effect of cations. 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