The service life of marine steel structures is significantly impacted by metal corrosion. The conventional cathodic protection method requires a significant amount of energy and metal resources. Therefore, it is essential to create environmentally friendly and economically viable energy sources for preventing corrosion.
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The Institute of Oceanology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (IOCAS), under the direction of Prof. Xiutong Wang, recently focused on triboelectric nanogenerators (TENGs) as a new energy conversion system and developed melamine foam (MF)/MXene/Ecoflex@TiO2-TENG (FME@TiO2-TENG) for environmentally friendly electrochemical corrosion protection.
Nano Energy published the study on March 13th, 2023.
The effects of MXene and TiO2 nanotubes on the friction layer’s charge transfer process were investigated by the researchers. They discovered that MXene’s conductive qualities and powerful electronegativity aided in the charge transfer of Ecoflex.
TiO2 nanotubes could record image charge concurrently. The above two factors worked together to enhance TENG’s electrical output performance, which helped create a better cathodic protection effect.
Additionally, the researchers used a micro-electrolytic cell system to assess the cathodic protection impact of FME@TiO2-TENG.
The benefits of TENGs technology include its high effectiveness of low-frequency energy transfer, a wide supply of materials, lightweight, and cheap cost.
There are abundant mechanical energies available in the marine environment, such as wind energy, wave energy, tidal energy, etc., which provides a convenient energy source for corrosion protection using TENG.
Youbo Nan, Study First Author, Institute of Oceanology Chinese Academy of Sciences
Prof. Xiutong Wang, a professor at the Institute of Oceanology Chinese Academy of Sciences, added, “This study demonstrates the potential of TENG as a green energy source for electrochemical cathodic protection, which would provide safety guarantee for the structures and equipment in marine environment.”
Journal Reference
Nan, Y., et al. (2023) Synergistic effects of charge transport and trapping in tribomaterials for boosted triboelectric nanogenerators. Nano Energy. doi:10.1016/j.nanoen.2023.108345.
Source: https://english.cas.cn/