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Ionic Circuits Powered by Reverse Electrodialysis for an Ultimate Iontronic System.

ABSTRACT: Despite numerous reports on iontronic devices, there has been no whole circuit working in aqueous media including even power source. Herein, we introduce complete ionic circuits powered by reverse electrodialysis (RED) for the first time without employing any electronic components. The RED-driven polyelectrolyte diode successfully shows rectification behavior which is verified by monitoring dynamic ion distribution through fluorescence in real-time. We can also turn on and off the voltage applied to the circuit, and apply an arbitrary voltage by precisely manipulating the pressure imposed to an elastic connection tube filled with electrolyte. Furthermore, this new concept containing ionic power source advances to a more sophisticated ionic OR logic gate. The proposed system paves the way to develop not only passive iontronic devices (e.g. current ionic diode), but active ones requiring a source of energy, particularly such as a neuron-like information processor powered by fully ionic systems, and thereby aqueous computers.

SUBMITTER: Han SH

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5656583 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Ionic Circuits Powered by Reverse Electrodialysis for an Ultimate Iontronic System.

Han Seok Hee SH Kwon Seung-Ryong SR Baek Seol S Chung Taek-Dong TD

Scientific reports 20171025 1

Despite numerous reports on iontronic devices, there has been no whole circuit working in aqueous media including even power source. Herein, we introduce complete ionic circuits powered by reverse electrodialysis (RED) for the first time without employing any electronic components. The RED-driven polyelectrolyte diode successfully shows rectification behavior which is verified by monitoring dynamic ion distribution through fluorescence in real-time. We can also turn on and off the voltage applie ...[more]

PMID: 29070833

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Project description:Natural salinity gradients are a promising source of so-called "blue energy", a renewable energy source that utilizes the free energy of mixing for power generation. One promising blue energy technology that converts these salinity gradients directly into electricity is reverse electrodialysis (RED). Used at its full potential, it could provide a substantial portion of the world's electricity consumption. Previous theoretical and experimental works have been done on optimizing RED devices, with the latter often focusing on precious and expensive metal electrodes. However, in order to rationally design and apply RED devices, we need to investigate all related transport phenomena─especially the fluidics of salinity gradient mixing and the redox electrolyte at various concentrations, which can have complex intertwined effects─in a fully functioning and scalable system. Here, guided by fundamental electrochemical and fluid dynamics theories, we work with an iron-based redox electrolyte with carbon electrodes in a RED device with tunable microfluidic environments and study the fundamental effects of electrolyte concentration and flow rate on the potential-driven redox activity and power output. We focus on optimizing the net power output, which is the difference between the gross power output generated by the RED device and the pumping power input, needed for salinity gradient mixing and redox electrolyte reactions. We find through this holistic approach that the electrolyte concentration in the electrode rinse solution is crucial for increasing the electrical current, while the pumping power input depends nonlinearly on the membrane separation distance. Finally, from this understanding, we designed a five cell-pair (CP) RED device that achieved a net power density of 224 mW m-2 CP-1, a 60% improvement compared to the nonoptimized case. This study highlights the importance of the electrode rinse solution fluidics and composition when rationally designing RED devices based on scalable carbon-based electrodes.

Dataset Information

Ionic Circuits Powered by Reverse Electrodialysis for an Ultimate Iontronic System.

Publications

Ionic Circuits Powered by Reverse Electrodialysis for an Ultimate Iontronic System.

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