EvapoFlex: Water-responsive Materials for Evaporation Energy Harvesting
Many important physiological functions of living organisms (e.g., plant seed dispersal, bacterial spore activation) rely on water-responsive (WR) materials that mechanically deform in response to changes in relative humidity. Recently, biological WR materials have been shown to generate significantly higher energy actuation compared to all known animal muscles and mechanical actuators. These materials have enabled the development of evaporation energy harvesting generators that operate autonomously when placed at a suitable air-water vapor interface. Theoretical and physical studies suggest that these devices are highly scalable and could produce power densities comparable to current solar and wind farms, while mitigating the intermittency issue that is often experienced by these renewable energy sources.
To transform the field of WR materials and their associated evaporation energy harvesting techniques, we employ a convergent and deeply interdisciplinary approach. We term this overall effort EvapoFlex. We expect that EvapoFlex will establish a comprehensive framework to harness the ubiquitous and untapped energy embodied within natural and industrial evaporative water sources for actuation, renewable energy conversion, and environmental protection. We see our energy production system as highly unorthodox yet promising, and admittedly a high-risk/high-reward enterprise. If successful, EvapoFlex will lead to a previously unrecognized clean energy resource of water evaporation with power production potential comparable to that of current solar and wind farms, but at a much lower economic and resource cost, few intermittency issues, and with a high potential for public acceptance.
