Advanced ocean wave energy harvesting: current progress and future trends

Abstract

With a transition towards clean and low-carbon renewable energy, against the backdrop of the fossil-energy crisis and rising pollution, ocean energy has been proposed as a significant possibility for mitigating climate change and energy shortages for its characteristics of clean, renewable, and abundant. The rapid development of energy harvesting technology has led to extensive applications of ocean wave energy, which, however, has faced certain challenges due to the low-frequency and unstable nature of ocean waves. This paper overviews the debut and development of ocean wave energy harvesting technology, and discusses the potential and application paradigm for energy harvesting in the “intelligent ocean.” We first describe for readers the mechanisms and applications of traditional wave energy converters, and then discuss current challenges in energy harvesting performance connected to the characteristics of ocean waves. Next, we summarize the progress in wave energy harvesting with a focus on advanced technologies (e.g., data-driven design and optimization) and multifunctional energy materials (e.g., triboelectric metamaterials), and finally propose recommendations for future development. 在化石能源危机和环境污染加剧的背景下, 能源产业正在向着清洁低碳方向转变。海洋能有望成为缓解气候变 化和能源短缺的重要能量来源。波浪能是海洋能的重要组成部分。然而由于波浪的低频和不稳定性, 其采集存 在一定技术挑战。本文通过梳理波浪能转换装置的基本机理与主要应用, 讨论现有波浪能采集技术的瓶颈与挑 战; 通过引入近年来出现的数据驱动结构优化等先进设计技术和摩擦电超材料等新型电学功能材料, 提出波浪 能采集技术的可能解决方案和未来发展方向, 并讨论和展望能量采集在“智慧海洋”中的应用潜力和应用范式。