Blue Energy for Green Hydrogen Fuel: A Self-Powered Electrochemical Conversion System Driven by Triboelectric Nanogenerators

Utilizing hydrogen energy produced by water electrolysis is conducive to carbon neutrality from a technological point of view. However, this perspective is restrained by the high electricity cost in commercial development. Powering electrochemical reactions by renewable electricity converted from distributed mechanical energy can lead to commercial electric energy saving and cost reduction. In this work, a self-powered electrochemical system (SPECS) is proposed for the conversion from blue energy of ocean waves to green energy via hydrogen fuel. This system consists of triboelectric nanogenerator (TENG) devices and an electrolyzer, where the TENG devices serve as ocean wave energy harvesters for electricity generation, while the seawater-containing electrolyzer is employed for hydrogen generation. After power management on the output of the TENGs and electrochemical reaction optimization, the system can generate hydrogen at a rate of 814.8 mu L m(-2) d(-1) and a Faraday efficiency of 69.1% under ideal operation conditions, demonstrating the practical potential of the constructed system toward carbon neutralization.

Automated summary

The proposed self-powered electrochemical system converts blue energy from ocean waves into green energy via hydrogen fuel through triboelectric nanogenerator (TENG) devices and an electrolyzer. After optimization, the system can achieve high-efficiency hydrogen generation, demonstrating its potential towards carbon neutrality.