Ferroelectric Dipole Moment Effect-Enhanced Droplet-Based Hydrovoltaic Power Generation: A Novel Strategy for High-Efficiency Energy Conversion

Green, pollution-free hydrovoltaic technology has become a promising solution for carbon-neutral energy supply. However, existing hydrovoltaic devices face challenges related to low ion separation efficiency in nanochannels and the difficulty of maintaining ion concentration gradients, resulting in low output performance and short operational time. To address these issues, this paper proposes a novel strategy involving the insertion of a ferroelectric film between the active material layer and the top electrode. By utilizing the ferroelectric dipole moment to modulate the surface zeta potential, this approach enhances the internal electric field within the device and improves the separation efficiency of net ions. The optimized device shows significant performance improvements, with an open-circuit voltage of up to 0.8 V, a short-circuit current density of 240 μA/cm<sup xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">2</sup>, and a maximum power density of 23.1 μW/cm<sup xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">2</sup>, far exceeding the performance of conventional droplet-based HDs. As a potential application, this study also demonstrates the feasibility of using this hydrovoltaic device as a practical power source. This work provides new theoretical insights and practical guidance for the design and optimization of droplet-based HDs.