Mussel-Inspired Self-Adhesive and Tough Hydrogels for Effectively Cooling Solar Cells and Thermoelectric Generators

作者：Jialing Li, Xiaojiang Mu, Jianhua Zhou, Sijing Zhu, Yangfan Gao, Xiaoyang Wang, Junliang Chen, Lei Miao · 发表于：ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces · 年份：2024 · DOI：10.1021/acsami.4c00710 · 被引用次数：24 · 研究领域：Thermal Radiation and Cooling Technologies、Advanced Thermodynamics and Statistical Mechanics、Advanced Sensor and Energy Harvesting Materials

Adhesive hydrogel-based evaporative cooling, which necessitates no electricity input, holds promise for reducing energy consumption in thermal management. Herein, inspired by the surface attachment of mussel adhesive proteins via abundant dynamic covalent bonds and noncovalent interactions, we propose a facile strategy to fabricate a self-adhesive cooling hydrogel (Li-AA-TA-PAM) using a copolymer of acrylamide (AM) and acrylic acid (AA) as the primary framework. The monomers formed hydrogen bonds between their carboxyl and amide groups, while tannic acid (TA), rich in catechol groups, enhances the adhesion of the hydrogel through hydrogen bonding. The hydrogel demonstrated strong adhesion to various material surfaces, including plastic, ceramic, glass, and metal. Even under high-speed rotation, it still maintains robust adhesion. The adhesion strength of the Li-AA-TA-PAM hydrogel to aluminum foil reached an impressive value of 296.875 kPa. Interestingly, the excellent contact caused by robust adhesion accelerates heat transfer, resulting in a rapid cooling performance, which mimics the perspiration of mammals. Lithium bromide (LiBr) with hydroactively sorptive sites is introduced to enhance sorption kinetics, thereby extending the effective cooling period. Consequently, the operation temperature of commercial polycrystalline silicon solar cells was reduced by 16 °C under an illumination of 1 kW m –2, and the corresponding efficiency of energy conversion was increased by 1.14%...