TEMPO-Oxidized Bacterial Cellulose Nanofibers/Graphene Oxide Fibers for Osmotic Energy Conversion

The large osmotic energy between river water and seawater is an inexhaustible blue energy source; however, the complicated manufacturing methods used for ion-exchange devices hinder the development of reverse electrodialysis (RED). Here, we use a wet-spinning method to continuously spin meter-scale 2,2,6,6-tetramethylpiperidine-1-oxyl (TEMPO)-oxidized bacterial cellulose (TOBC) nanofiber filaments, which are then used to construct nanochannels for osmotic energy conversion. These are then used to build a nacre-like structure by adding graphene oxide (GO), which provides narrow nanochannels in one-dimensional and two-dimensional nanofluid systems for rapid ion transport. With a 50-fold concentration gradient, the nanochannels in the fibers generate electricity of 0.35 W m-2, with an ionic mobility of 0.94 and an energy conversion efficiency of 38%. The assembly of GO and TOBC results in a high power density of 0.53 W m-2 using artificial seawater and river water. The RED device fabricated from TOBC/GO fibers maintains a stable power density for 15 days. This research proposes a simple method to reduce the size of nanochannels to improve the ionic conductivity, ionic selectivity, and power density of cellulose-based nanofibers to increase the possibility of their application for the conversion of osmotic energy to electrical energy.