Prof. Yifei Wang
Harbin Institute of Technology, Shenzhen, China
Title: Microfluidic power sources via capillary action
Abstract:
The market of portable electronics is experiencing a revolution in both quantity and function. Compared with conventional 3C products with relatively high rated power, new electronic gadgets with µW to mW level power input are continuously developed in different sectors, such as lateral-flow testing for healthcare, smart packaging for logistics, and wireless sensor network for environmental monitoring. These new electronics will be produced in great quantity in the coming era of Internet-of-Things, which require low-cost, flexible and environmentally-friendly energy technologies instead of conventional batteries. Our research is mainly focused on developing micro fuel cells, metal-air batteries and aqueous ion batteries for these new electronics, by utilizing additive manufacturing for cell fabrication, microfluidics for mass transport, and the cellulose paper as cell substrate. The paper-based fuel cell retains the long-term operation ability of fuel cells by delivering the fuel & oxidant efficiently through the cellulose network, which is suitable for uninterrupted electronics such as wearable healthcare sensors. The paper-based metal-air battery is well known for its green raw materials together with high energy density, which is mainly targeted for single-use and disposable electronics such as lateral flow testers and smart packages. As for the paper-based metal ion batteries, the employment of non-Li metal anode, carbonaceous cathode and water-in-salt aqueous electrolyte can significantly improve both the cost-efficiency and safety level, which are more competitive for powering the large quantity of wireless sensors. Considering their great application prospect, our future research goal is to continuously optimize both the cell performance and the fabrication efficiency for these paper-based fuel cells and batteries, and to achieve their successful commercialization.
Biography:
Dr. Yifei Wang is currently an Associate Professor in School of Mechanical Engineering and automation, Harbin Institute of Technology, Shenzhen. He received his B.Sc. degree from Department of Modern Mechanics, University of Science and Technology of China in 2012, and his Ph.D. degree from Department of Mechanical Engineering, The University of Hong Kong in 2016. Afterwards, he worked as a Postdoc in the same university. His research interest is mainly focused on fuel cells, metal-air batteries and water electrolyzers. Till now, he has published over 80 scientific articles in these areas, with a total citation of 3000+ and a h-index of 31. He has also filed 10+ patents on innovative fuel cell and battery technologies.