Search for: All records

Self‐powered untethered robots that can meander unrestrictedly, squeeze into small spaces, and operate in diverse harsh environments have received immense attention in recent years. As there is not a universal solution that can be applied to power robots with diverse forms, service functions, and a broad size range from nanometers to meters, the design, fabrication, and implementation of power systems with a suitable weight, desired power and operation duration, and adaptiveness to confined spaces and operation conditions represent one of the greatest challenges in robotic research. Herein, an overview of recent progress and challenges in developing the next‐generation energy harvesting and storage technologies is provided, including direct energy harvesting, energy storage and conversion, and wireless energy transmission for robots across all scales. 

Abstract Although tremendous efforts have been devoted to understanding the origin of boosted charge storage on heteroatom‐doped carbons, none of the present studies has shown a whole landscape. Herein, by both experimental evidence and theoretical simulation, it is demonstrated that heteroatom doping not only results in a broadened operating voltage, but also successfully promotes the specific capacitance in aqueous supercapacitors. In particular, the electrolyte cations adsorbed on heteroatom‐doped carbon can effectively inhibit hydrogen evolution reaction, a key step of water decomposition during the charging process, which broadens the voltage window of aqueous electrolytes even beyond the thermodynamic limit of water (1.23 V). Furthermore, the reduced adsorption energy of heteroatom‐doped carbon consequently leads to more stored cations on the heteroatom‐doped carbon surface, thus yielding a boosted charge storage performance.