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In general, methyl orange (MO) can be degraded by an electrocatalytic oxidation process driven by a power source due to the generation of superoxidative hydroxyl radical on the anode. Here, we report a hybrid energy cell that is used for a self-powered electrocatalytic process for the degradation of MO without using an external power source. The hybrid energy cell can simultaneously or individually harvest mechanical and thermal energies. The mechanical energy was harvested by the triboelectric nanogenerator (TENG) fabricated at the top by using a flexible polydimethysiloxane (PDMS) nanowire array with diameters of about 200 nm. A pyroelectric nanogenerator (PENG) was fabricated below the TENG to harvest thermal energy. The power output of the device can be directly used for electrodegradation of MO, demonstrating a self-powered electrocatalytic oxidation process.
Yang et al. (Wed,) studied this question.