Monolithic Integrated Flexible Yet Robust Droplet-Based Electricity Generator

Developing robust technologies to harvest energy from ambient environments is critical to applications in self-powered electronics. As a promising candidate, droplet-based electricity generators with transistor-inspired architecture, which consist of electrodes and dielectric material, have manifested superior capacity to gain sustainable energy from water. Despite extensive achievement, these devices are significantly limited by insufficient flexibility and unstable performance owing to the presence of inevitable mechanical abrasion, chemical corrosion, and interfacial detachment of electrode and dielectric material. Here, a facile approach is reported to construct a monolithic integrated droplet-based electricity generator (MI-DEG) device that enables high flexibility and robust electrical performance. The key to such flexibility and robustness of the MI-DEG device lies in the meticulous utilization of a thermal fusion strategy that makes specially-designed polymer electrodes and dielectric material seamlessly integrated together. It is demonstrated that MI-DEG exhibits stable electrical output with negligible attenuation under long-term mechanical deformation and abrasion, as well as retains over 60% of initial electrical output under harsh corrosive environments, as opposed to the complete failure of conventional counterpart. This study provides a hopeful pathway for the rational design of flexible and robust electricity generator, making it a step closer in the practical applications.