Flexible microfluidics nanogenerator based on the electrokinetic conversion

Harvesting energy from environment is an efficient and convenient way to supply power for self-powered systems. Here we present a flexible and reliable microfluidics nanogenerator (MFNG), which can convert environmental mechanical energy into electricity by utilizing the streaming potential effect. A MFNG with the effective sectional area of 1 mm(2) can produce a pulse voltage of similar to 1.5 V and current of similar to 1 mu A. The output performance of the MFNG can be further promoted by optimizing the type of fluidic liquid, concentration of solution, surface property of microchannels as well as the size of the microchannels. Moreover, we demonstrate the application of the MFNG by powering a LCD directly with a gentle finger press and lighting a LED after charging a capacitor. These results may offer an approach for building up self-powered systems by harvesting human mechanical energies.