Bio-inspired lychee-like vitrimer hybrids for moisture-electric generation

Vitrimers, a class of polymers featuring dynamic covalent-bond networks, have garnered significant interest over the past decade owing to their potential to advance polymer materials. Since their discovery in 2011, extensive research has focused on developing different chemistries to synthesize diverse vitrimers, as well as on investigating vitrimers' mechanical properties and reprocessabilities. However, the exploration of vitrimers' inherent functionality offered by their unique molecular structures for advanced applications remains comparatively underexplored. In this work, we report the first synthesis of a novel class of vitrimer hybrids—lychee-like core-shell poly(hydroxyurethane) (PHU)@polyaniline (PANI) microspheres embedded within cellulose fabric—via a tandem in situ polymerization approach and investigate their applications in moisture-enabled electric generation. The resulting materials can harvest energy from diverse water sources, including deionized water, tap water, lake water, and seawater, outperforming most polymers and polymer composites reported in the literature. This work not only reports the synthesis of a new kind of vitrimer hybrids but also pioneers their advanced application in moisture-electric generation, highlighting their potential for green energy harvesting from water.