MEG actualized by high-valent metal carrier transport

Abstract Moist-electric (ME) is a promising energy that generates electricity from the air by absorbing the gaseous or vaporous water molecules that are ubiquitous in the atmosphere. Even so, all the moisture-generated carriers in the ME generator (MEG) are monovalent ions, which severely limits the diversification of ME materials as well as the further improvement and application of ME. We creatively designed the concentration gradient of high-valent metal cation carriers containing Mg (II) and Al (III) ions in one-dimensional conductive polymer nanowires and applied them to MEG. High-valent metal cation carriers have significant advantages of high ME performance based on two- and three-electron transfer property compared to monovalent ion carriers. Under the stimulation of moisture, Mg MEG achieved a high energy density of 20.8 mWcm−3 in a test circuit with a load resistance, while Al MEG produced a new record of energy density approaching 40 mWcm−3 in MEG research. By integrating Mg MEGs, the manufacture of self-powered intelligent monitoring devices that use human respiratory is developed, which is expected to be applied in wearable energy devices. This work provides insight for the design of the innovative MEG and opens up a pioneering avenue for future energy conversion and storage system.