Enhanced energy harvesting by reverse electrodialysis in aligned mesoporous silica SBA-15 thin films

• Project/Area Number: 16K18024
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Young Scientists (B)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Research Field: Thermal engineering
• Research Institution: The University of Tokyo
• Principal Investigator: Hwang Junho 東京大学, 大学院工学系研究科(工学部), 特任研究員 (60772978)
• Research Collaborator: DAIGUJI Hirofumi 東京大学, 大学院工学研究科, 教授 (10302754) ; ENDO Akira 産業技術総合研究所, 環境化学技術研究部, グループ長
• Project Period (FY): 2016-04-01 – 2018-03-31
• Project Status: Completed (Fiscal Year 2017)
• Budget Amount: ¥4,160,000 (Direct Cost: ¥3,200,000、Indirect Cost: ¥960,000); Fiscal Year 2017: ¥1,040,000 (Direct Cost: ¥800,000、Indirect Cost: ¥240,000); Fiscal Year 2016: ¥3,120,000 (Direct Cost: ¥2,400,000、Indirect Cost: ¥720,000)
• Keywords: マイクル・ナノスケール物質移動 / 熱流体 / 化学工学 / 化学物理 / Ion-selective transport / Nanofluidics / Mesoporous silica / Energy harvesting / Salinity gradient / Osmotic energy / Reverse electrodialysis / Thermal effect / 熱工学 / ナノ材料 / マイクロ・ナノデバイス

Outline of Final Research Achievements

Recent advances in synthesis, measurement, and analysis techniques of nanofluidic systems have allowed ion transport to be systematically explored in narrow, confined channels with dimensions of less than 10 nm. The aim of this research is to　demonstrate and investigate a mesoporous silica with sub-5 nm in diameter based nanofluidic energy harvesting system powered by salt concentration gradient driven ion-selective transport for the application in miniaturized-electrical devices.
The performance of the energy harvesting system was characterized by both experimental and numerical approaches in terms of maximum open circuit voltages (transmembrane electrical potential difference), maximum zero-volt currents (net ionic current), maximum power output densities, and energy conversion efficiency. In addition, the thermal dependence for nanofluidic energy conversion using the mesoporous silica materials was systematically studied.

Research Products

• [Journal Article] Thermal dependence of nanofluidic energy conversion by reverse electrodialysis (2017)
  • Author(s): Junho Hwang, Tatsuki Sekimoto, Wei-Lun Hsu, Sho Kataoka, Akira Endo, Hirofumi Daiguji
  • Journal Title: Nanoscale Volume: 9 Issue: 33 Pages: 12068-12076
  • DOI: 10.1039/c7nr04387b
  • Peer Reviewed / Open Access / Int'l Joint Research
• [Journal Article] Viscoelectric Effects in Nanochannel Electrokinetics (2017)
  • Author(s): Wei-Lun Hsu, Dalton JE Harvie, Malcolm R Davidson, Dave E Dunstan, Junho Hwang, Hirofumi Daiguji
  • Journal Title: The Journal of Physical Chemistry C Volume: 121 Issue: 37 Pages: 20517-20523
  • DOI: 10.1021/acs.jpcc.7b06798
  • Peer Reviewed / Int'l Joint Research
• [Journal Article] Enhanced energy harvesting by concentration gradient-driven ion transport in SBA-15 mesoporous silica thin films (2016)
  • Author(s): Hwang, Junho; Kataoka, Sho; Endo, Akira; Daiguji, Hirofumi
  • Journal Title: Lab on a Chip Volume: 16 Issue: 19 Pages: 1473-0197
  • DOI: 10.1039/c6lc00844e
  • Peer Reviewed / Int'l Joint Research
• [Presentation] Termal dependence of power generation by reverse electrodialysis with nanopores (2017)
  • Author(s): Hwang, Junho; Sekimoto, Tatsuki; Daiguji, Hirofumi
  • Organizer: 54th The Heat Transfer Society of Japan
• [Presentation] Thermal control of energy harvesting by salinity gradient in ion-selective nanopores (2017)
  • Author(s): Hwang, Junho; Sekimoto, Tatsuki; Daiguji, Hirofumi
  • Organizer: 1st Asian Conference on Thermal Science
  • Place of Presentation: Jeju Island, Korea
  • Int'l Joint Research
• [Presentation] Energy Harvesting by Reverse Electrodialysis (RED) with Mesoporous Silica SBA-15 Thin Film (2016)
  • Author(s): Hwang, Junho; Endo, Akira; Daiguji, Hirofumi
  • Organizer: 53th The Heat Transfer Society of Japan
  • Place of Presentation: Osaka, Japan
  • Year and Date: 2016-05-24
• [Remarks] The University of Tokyo, Daiguji Laboratory
  • URL: http://www.thml.t.u-tokyo.ac.jp/en/index.html