Is Heat Really Beneficial to Water Evaporation-Driven Electricity?

J Phys Chem Lett. 2021 Dec 30;12(51):12370-12375. doi: 10.1021/acs.jpclett.1c03718. Epub 2021 Dec 23.

Abstract

Water evaporation-driven electricity (EDE) has attracted a great deal of attention in recent years as a novel renewable energy. Previous works have demonstrated that a high evaporation rate leads to a large output voltage. Hence, it is believed that heating is beneficial to EDE by enhancing the evaporation rate. However, experimental verification is lacking. This study demonstrates that heat induces a thermodiffusion effect that drives hydrated ions in the opposite direction of the evaporation-driven water flow, which reduces the output voltage as a synergistic effect. Our findings could be useful for designing a multifunction EDE generator and provide insight into the electricity generation mechanism.