Bubble energy generator

Abstract

Bubbles have been extensively explored as energy carriers ranging from boiling heat transfer and targeted cancer diagnosis. Yet, despite notable progress, the kinetic energy inherent in small bubbles remains difficult to harvest. Here, we develop a transistor-inspired bubble energy generator for directly and efficiently harvesting energy from small bubbles. The key points lie in designing dielectric surface with high-density electric charges and tailored surface wettability as well as transistor-inspired electrode configuration. The synergy between these features facilitates fast bubble spreading and subsequent departure, transforms the initial liquid/solid interface into gas/solid interface under the gating of bubble, and yields an output at least one order of magnitude higher than existing studies. We also show that the output can be further enhanced through rapid bubble collapse at the air/liquid interface and multiple bubbles synchronization. We envision that our design will pave the way for small bubble-based energy harvesting in liquid media.

Electrification of water: From basics to applications

“…This transistor‐like electrode design is a universal strategy in electrical energy harvesting, and a series of pioneering studies from our group have proven its effectiveness and efficiency at various interfaces, 71–73 including solid/solid, gas/liquid, and liquid/liquid interfaces. Figure 3e shows that a transistor‐inspired bubble energy generator can transform the initial liquid/solid interface into a solid/gas interface by controlling the bubble spreading and subsequent departure, which yields an output at least one order of magnitude higher than that reported in previous studies 74 . With a similar electrode architecture, a recently developed lubricant‐armored transistor‐like electricity generator (Figure 3f) has also shown enhanced energy output performances at the liquid/liquid surface 75 …”

“…(d) Reproduced with permission, 6 © 2020, Springer Nature. (e) Reproduced with permission, 74 © 2022, American Association for the Advancement of Science. (f) Reproduced with permission, 75 © 2022, Elsevier.…”

Liquid-Repellent Surfaces

“…Fusing lubricated repellent surfaces and transistor-inspired architecture , offers a universal framework for efficient water-energy-harvesting devices on a myriad of scales. Furthermore, the connection and integration of transistor-inspired nanogenerators expand the contacting surface areas, harvest versatile energies of both high grade and low grade, − and greatly magnify the output power, which is promising for the mainstream of the green-energy harvesting strategy in the future.…”

Controllable and Directional Transportation of Bubbles on Asymmetric Hexagonal Cage Substrate in Aqueous Environment

“…In recent years, gas bubbles in aqueous media, because of their unique properties, have gained attention in intelligent control, microfluidic technology, biomedicine, microrobotics, material processing, and so on. − For example, drug emulsion droplets mixed with gas bubbles may rupture near the lesion under ultrasound to improve the permeability of the nearby cell membrane, which helps to release higher concentration of drugs, providing a novel and efficient drug release strategy. − The Ostwald ripening effect of agglomerated bubbles can be used to prepare hollow two-dimensional or three-dimensional materials with extremely high uniformity. − Bubbles are also widely used in engineering optimization. − ,− In addition to their application scenarios in fundamental science, bubbles have also been applied in emerging niche applications such as bubble energy harvesting and soft robotics …”

“…6−8 Bubbles are also widely used in engineering optimization. 9−13,13−18 In addition to their application scenarios in fundamental science, bubbles have also been applied in emerging niche applications such as bubble energy harvesting 19 and soft robotics. 20 The directional and controllable transport of bubbles is usually the key to realize the further application of bubbles.…”