Simple and Accessible Wood-Based Transpiration Generator for Energy Harvesting

Environmental issues have grown increasingly salient, and to address these environmental challenges, the development of sustainable energy systems is urgently required, and there is an urgent need to develop new energy sources to address environmental challenges. Recently, the domain of clean energy technologies has attracted heightened research interest from researchers, as the development of advanced power generation apparatus is targeted at exploiting the potential energy of water to generate electricity for daily use. Developing and utilizing biomass-based green materials for hydroelectric power generation devices are predicated on ensuring the excellent power-generation performance of devices. This study presents a wood-based transpiration generator (WTG) that exploits the capillary flow of water in carbon-black-coated natural wood due to the continuous water evaporation. A single drop of deionized water (20 μL) on the WTG with dimensions of 30 × 15 × 0.5 mm yields a maximum open-circuit voltage of 0.63 V and a maximum short-circuit current of 4.5 μA, depending on the loading of carbon black. By a series connection of six WTGs using copper wire clips, a continuous power supply enough to power an electronic calculator is generated, demonstrating its practical application. Achieving the conversion of water energy into electric energy is more conducive to utilizing water resources and implementing a deep excavation of water energy.