Energy Harvesting from Salt in Seawater: A New Source of Graphene-enabled Power

这个项目旨在展示一种基于神奇材料石墨烯的全新能源收集技术，利用储存在海水盐中的尚未锁定的电子能量。虽然已经有许多能量收集解决方案(太阳能、热电、压电等)，但没有一种能够直接从带电的流体(如海水)中发电，很少有能够在通常在海上发现的恶劣条件下运行和茁壮成长的。我们的专利技术基于功能化的石墨烯，它利用石墨烯固有的巨大机械强度(因此它能够承受恶劣环境)从海洋中提取离子电荷。这里将开发的设备可用于许多应用，如安装在任何海上船只(浮标、船只、石油平台等)上。为电池组充电或直接为低功率电子设备供电。由于剑桥内部和更广泛的英国社区已经建立了联系，我们在开发这项可行性研究的主要商业成果方面处于有利地位。Paragraf 9个月的GB 99,918可行性研究将开发一种通过开发和利用石墨烯的主要特性从海水中发电的新方法。它回应了探索将一种完全变革性的海洋可再生技术推向市场的潜力的挑战。没有其他公司或研究机构试图生产带电荷的功能化石墨烯。Paragraf将显著改善目前的技术水平，使用其专利技术在不影响石墨烯导电性的情况下，通过额外的载体使石墨烯功能化，从而加速从离子液体中解吸和吸收电子，从而改进先前的实验，并为这项技术提供现实世界应用的潜力。通过使用其专有的功能化石墨烯，Paragraf将能够从普通盐水中产生大幅增加的电压，这与之前的实验不同，使该公司能够做以前不可能做的事情，并为这项技术提供了现实世界应用的潜力。项目成果将适用于多个全球海洋物联网出口市场，并在其他离子液体存在的市场也具有潜力，例如化学制造过程或废水处理。该项目还将改善海洋可再生能源供应链以及英国纳米技术材料和设备生产制造商的业务增长。

"This project aims to demonstrate a completely new energy harvesting technology based on the wonder material graphene, exploiting the as yet unlocked electronic energy stored within salt in seawater.While many energy harvesting solutions exist already (solar, thermoelectric, piezoelectric, etc.), none are capable of generating power directly from charged fluids such as seawater, and very few are capable of operating and thriving in the harsh conditions typically found at sea. Our proprietary technology is based on functionalised graphene which capitalises on the tremendous mechanical strength inherent to graphene (and thus its ability to withstand harsh environments) to extract ionic charge from the sea. Devices such as those which will be developed here can be exploited in many applications, such as being attached to any sea vessel (buoys, boats, oil platforms, etc.) to charge battery packs or directly energise low power electronic devices. We are in a strong position to exploit major commercial outcomes of this feasibility study, due to links already made within Cambridge and in the broader UK community.Paragraf's 9 month £99,918 feasibility study will develop a new way of generating electricity from seawater by developing and exploiting the principal properties of graphene. It responds to the challenge to explore the potential of bringing a completely transformative marine renewable technology to market.No other companies or research groups are attempting to produce functionalized graphene with an electrical charge. Paragraf will significantly improve on current state of the art by using its proprietary technique to functionalize graphene with extra carriers without impacting on its electrical conductivity, to enable accelerated desorption and absorption of electrons from the ionic fluid, thus improving on previous experiments and offering the potential of real-world applications for this technology. By using its proprietary functionalised graphene, Paragraf will be able to generate much-increased voltages from ordinary saltwater, unlike previous experiments, enabling the company to do something that was impossible before and offering the potential of real world applications for this technology.Project outputs will be applicable in multiple global export markets for marine Internet of Things, and also have potential in other markets that ionic fluids are present, for example chemical manufacturing processes or effluent disposal. The project will also improve business growth for the marine renewables supply chain, as well as for UK nanotechnology materials and device production manufacturers."