Blue Energy for Green Hydrogen Fuel: A Self‐Powered Electrochemical Conversion System Driven by Triboelectric Nanogenerators

TLDR

Hydrogen production via water electrolysis supports carbon neutrality, yet its high electricity cost limits commercial viability, prompting interest in renewable mechanical energy conversion to reduce costs. This study proposes a self‑powered electrochemical system that converts blue energy from ocean waves into green hydrogen fuel. The system couples triboelectric nanogenerators that harvest wave energy with a seawater electrolyzer to generate hydrogen. Under optimized power management, the system produces 814.8 µL m⁻² d⁻¹ of hydrogen with 69.1 % Faraday efficiency, demonstrating practical potential for carbon neutralization.

Abstract

Abstract Utilizing hydrogen energy produced by water electrolysis is conducive to carbon neutrality from a technological point of view. However, this perspective is restrained by the high electricity cost in commercial development. Powering electrochemical reactions by renewable electricity converted from distributed mechanical energy can lead to commercial electric energy saving and cost reduction. In this work, a self‐powered electrochemical system (SPECS) is proposed for the conversion from blue energy of ocean waves to green energy via hydrogen fuel. This system consists of triboelectric nanogenerator (TENG) devices and an electrolyzer, where the TENG devices serve as ocean wave energy harvesters for electricity generation, while the seawater‐containing electrolyzer is employed for hydrogen generation. After power management on the output of the TENGs and electrochemical reaction optimization, the system can generate hydrogen at a rate of 814.8 µ L m ‐2 d ‐1 and a Faraday efficiency of 69.1% under ideal operation conditions, demonstrating the practical potential of the constructed system toward carbon neutralization.