Hydrogen Plasma on Graphene Oxide to Produce Gradients of Oxygen-Containing Functional Groups for Self-Powered Devices

Self-powered devices are becoming increasingly important with the development of portable electronics in the context of the energy crisis. An emerging flexible self-powered system that can spontaneously and immediately transform energy from the ambient environment into electric energy has been developed, this system has considerable societal and commercial applications. Here, a flexible self-powered device is demonstrated on the basis of the streaming potential mechanism, in which H2 plasma is used to implement a gradient distribution of an oxygenated group and then enhance streaming potential in graphene oxide membrane (GOM). The effects of processing time, environmental conditions, and device structure on the performance of output energy are investigated in detail. The device is capable of rapidly outputting voltage up to ∼290 mV with a maximum output power of 5.22 μW/cm2 within 3-4 min in different liquid environments. Furthermore, the self-powered device is stable and durable through device cycle and material durability tests. To prove the streaming potential mechanism further, COMSOL software is used to simulate the power generation process of GOM. The results show that the simulation results agree well with the experimental ones. The present work offers a different approach for the processing of flexible GOM self-powered devices, providing a high reference value for future related studies on materials for flexible devices applied to the portable self-powered field.