FIELD OF THE INVENTION Embodiments of the present invention are directed generally to an apparatus and method for use in energy harvesting, and in

particular, using water for electrolyte regeneration and oxygen reduction under pressurized condition. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Energy harvesting nowadays has gained great momentum as a preferred alternative in providing electrical energy. For this process, energy readily available in the environment is captured and converted into a power source or in more specific term, electrical power source. Of course, the demand of energy harvesting competes among other types of most publicized renewable energy sources such as, hydroelectric power, geothermal, and solar. Accordingly, energy is captured from the environment by energy harvesting means, converted into electrical energy and stored in cells for powering up mostly small devices. Nevertheless, energy harvesting has attracted much interest in the commercial sectors owing to its green technology and cost effective.

Currently, there exists several energy harvesting mechanisms, among the prominent ones are photovoltaic harvesting, piezoelectric harvesting, thermoelectric harvesting and electrostatic ^' harvesting. In view of photovoltaic harvesting, one of the essential components for this process is the energy harvesting cell. The core challenges typically faced by users of energy harvesting cells in photovoltaic harvesting is that they require complex in-feed device in order to supply chemicals or gases for operation, complexity in draining water from energy harvesting cell and at the same time not ceasing its operation, and the challenge of ensuring continuous supply of ions derived from water, in the event that water used in said energy harvester cell.

Recognizing the shortcomings of the existing photovoltaic harvesting systems, there is dire need to provide an improved method and apparatus to be used in energy harvesting systems which can effectively address the glaring issues.

It is therefore a primary object of the present invention to provide a water-based apparatus and method for use in energy harvesting systems, said apparatus aids to harvest energy by producing current and supplying current to the system, using water for electrolyte regeneration.

It is yet another obj ect of the present invention to provide an apparatus and method for use in energy harvesting systems, whereby said apparatus do not require in-feed device and comprising a cyclic electrolysis of water inside a membrane. It is a further object of the present invention to provide an apparatus for use in energy harvesting systems, whereby no draining of water is required. Still other embodiments of the present invention will become readily apparent to those skilled in the art from the following detailed description, wherein embodiments of the invention are described by way of illustration. As will be realized, the invention is capable of other and different embodiments and its several details are capable of modifications in various respects, all without departing from the spirit and the scope of the present invention.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In one aspect of the present invention, there is provided an apparatus for use in energy harvesting system comprising: a chamber (30) for retaining hydrogen and oxygen, said chamber (30) comprising: at least one air electrode (4) for reducing oxygen molecules; reusable electrolyte for ions transportation; at least one metal electrode (14) for oxidizing said electrolyte; at least one hydrolysis electrode (17) for producing hydrogen and oxygen gases; at least one inlet (19) for channeling of water; at least one outlet (20) for draining water; at least one gas inlet (23) to pressurize said chamber (30) with hydrogen and oxygen gases; a catalyst for hydrogenation of used electrolyte; a polymeric membrane for absorbing hydrogen and oxygen gases (12,12a), and for preventing gas materials from escaping the chamber (22); and an energy „

4 harvesting circuit (16) connected with both metal and air electrodes .

In another aspect of the present invention there is provided a method for use in energy harvesting, said method comprising the steps of: providing a reusable electrolyte; providing at least one metal electrode and one air electrode; providing hydrogen gas by way of water hydrolysis; absorbing hydrogen gas; and hydrogenating the reusable electrolyte with a catalyst.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG 1 illustrates the apparatus for energy harvesting in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention;

FIG 2 provides the flow chart comprising the steps involved for the method of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In the following description, reference is made to the accompanying drawings where, by way of illustration, specific embodiments of the invention are shown. It is to be understood that other embodiments may be used as structural and other changes may be made without departing from the scope of the present invention. Also, the various embodiments and aspects from each of the various embodiments may be used in any suitable combinations . Accordingly, the drawings and detailed description are to be regarded as illustrative in nature and not as restrictive. Referring now to the figures, FIG. 1 is an elevated view showing the apparatus in accordance to a preferred embodiment of the present invention. The apparatus (30) is adapted to harvest energy in a closed environment.

In accordance with an embodiment of the present invention, the apparatus comprises at least one metal electrode (14), at least one mesh/membrane/gel (12) for use in trapping ¾ and providing mechanical support, at least one layer of second mesh membrane for trapping 0 ₂ (12a) , at least one ionic/proton exchange membrane - nonconductor (13), at least one air electrode (4), an amount of water (15) , at least one electron collecting terminal (16) connected with external energy harvesting circuit, at least one electrode for electrolysis (17) and a connector for use in electron flow terminal (17a) . As for the structure of the apparatus, there is provided a form of cavity for allowing water flow (18), at least one inlet and one outlet (19, 20) for channeling water in and out from the chamber (30) , at least one ion/gas permeable membrane (21), at least one polymer membrane layer surrounding the apparatus to prevent hydrogen from escaping the apparatus (22) and at least one gas inlet (23) .

The energy harvesting circuit (16) is operably coupled to the air and metal electrodes (4, 14) . The mode of connection will be described in the following sections. It is understood that the circuit operates in conjunction with the apparatus of the present invention. It will be appreciated that any number of required circuits may be incorporated separately or may be combined in to a single device, such as a microcontroller, microprocessor or other integrated circuit device. Essentially, the components as described above are positioned within a chamber (30) , preferably an air tight chamber so as to retain hydrogen and oxygen gases. The air electrode (4) serves to mainly reduce oxygen molecules within the chamber whilst the metal electrode (11) serves to oxidize electrolyte therein. It is preferred that reusable electrolyte is used for the apparatus of the present invention in order to allow ion transportation within the apparatus . There is further provided a hydrolysis electrode for producing sufficient amount of hydrogen and oxygen gases for the purpose of the present invention. The inlet and outlet (19, 20) are accordingly adapted to channel in and drain out water as well as electrolyte when necessary. The gas inlet (23) is suitably adapted to channel in hydrogen and oxygen and thus pressurize the chamber (30) of the apparatus. In order to aid in hydrogenation of the used electrolyte, the apparatus further comprises a form of catalyst for said hydrogenation. The polymeric membrane layer (22) is adapted to absorb hydrogen and oxygen gases within the apparatus. And as mentioned earlier, there is provided an energy harvesting circuit (16) which is connected to both the metal and air electrodes. In accordance with the preferred embodiment of the present invention, the air electrode (14) is formed based . on the combination or solely based on the compounds from the group comprising manganese oxide, silver oxide, chromium trioxide, osmium tetraoxide, pyridinium chlorochromate, persulfuric acid, ammonium persulfate, dipyridyl disulfide, anthraquinone, 2- anthraquinone sulfonate, 2-ethyl-9, 10, anthraquinone, naphtaquinone .

The usable electrolyte of the present invention comprises at least one of a combination of compounds selected from the group of hydroquinone, dihydroxyanthracene, 2-dihydroxyanthracene sulfonate, 2-ethyl-9, 10, dihydroxyanthracene, dihydroxynaphtalene, parietin, sodium hypophosphite, phosphonic acid.

According to the present invention, the hydrogenation catalyst may be formed based on solely, or a combination of compounds from the group of palladium, nickel, ruthenium, zinc and copper.

In effect and as seen in FIG 2, a photovoltaic cell produces current and supply current the electron flow terminal. In accordance with the present invention, the electron flow terminal is preferably located adjacent to the electrolysis chamber and photo catalyst-. The supplied current therefore breaks the water/electrolytes to anion and cation. Next, metal electrode proceeds to absorb the H+ ions (cations) and air electrode reacts with ions. H+ ions then flow from the metal electrode to the air electrode through the membrane at which anions will react with air electrode and produces water at the cathode side. In the next step, the connection between metal electrode and air electrode is formed by means of conductive wire thus allowing electron flow. Further, an energy harvesting circuit is connected to the said conductive wire for harvesting energy. From said energy harvesting circuit, the harvest power is accordingly delivered to an attached load or a storage device. Suitably, all unused ions passed to the dehydrate chamber, and as a result to the reaction occurs at the cathode, water can be produced again. Produced water will be sent back to the electrolysis chamber and thereby a cycle of the steps will be repeated.

While the invention has been particularly shown and described with reference to the illustrated embodiments, those skilled in the art will understand that changes in form and detail may be made without departing from the scope of the invention.