Nature-inspired interfacial engineering for energy harvesting

Abstract

The ever-increasing demand for low-carbon energy underscores the urgency of harvesting renewable energy sources. Despite notable progress, current energy harvesting techniques are still limited by low efficacy and poor durability. Biological systems exhibit diverse principles of energy harvesting owing to their ability to interact with the environment. In this Review, we explore diverse energy harvesting processes in nature to establish a fundamental understanding of nature’s strategies and provide a biomimicry design blueprint for high-efficiency energy harvesting systems. Next, we systematically discuss recent progress in nature-inspired surface/interface designs for efficient energy harvesting from water, sunlight and heat. We then highlight emerging hybrid approaches that can integrate multiple energy conversion processes within a single design through interface engineering to achieve mutual reinforcement. Finally, we deliberate on remaining fundamental and technical challenges to guide future research directions and potential applications of sustainable energy harvesting. Nature evolves intricate surfaces/interfaces to achieve high energy efficiency, providing a promising, low-carbon solution to energy crisis. This Review explores diverse energy processes in nature and how to translate nature’s inspiration to efficiently harvest energy from water, sunlight, heat and their hybrids, especially through interfacial engineering.