Improved Rectification and Osmotic Power in Polyelectrolyte-Filled Mesopores

Micromachines

Ding-Cheng Zheng¹  Li-Hsien Yeh¹ 

[1] Department of Chemical Engineering, National Taiwan University of Science and Technology, Taipei 10607, Taiwan;

关键词: mesopore;    micro/nanofluidics;    ion current rectification;    salinity gradient power;   

DOI  :  10.3390/mi11100949

来源: DOAJ

【 摘 要 】

Ample studies have shown the use of nanofluidics in the ionic diode and osmotic power generation, but similar ionic devices performed with large-sized mesopores are still poorly understood. In this study, we model and realize the mesoscale ionic diode and osmotic power generator, composed of an asymmetric cone-shaped mesopore with its narrow opening filled with a polyelectrolyte (PE) layer with high space charges. We show that, only when the space charge density of a PE layer is sufficiently large (>$1\times {10}^6{\mathrm{C}/\mathrm{m}}^3$), the considered mesopore system is able to create an asymmetric ionic distributions in the pore and then rectify ionic current. As a result, the output osmotic power performance can be improved when the filled PE carries sufficiently high space charges. For example, the considered PE-filled mesopore system can show an amplification of the osmotic power of up to 35.1-fold, compared to the bare solid-state mesopore. The findings provide necessary information for the development of large-sized ionic diode and osmotic power harvesting device.

【 授权许可】

Unknown