Photo‐excited Oxygen Reduction and Oxygen Evolution Reactions Enable a High‐Performance Zn–Air Battery

Abstract

The storage of solar energy in battery systems is pivotal for a sustainable society, which faces many challenges. Herein, a Zn–air battery is constructed with two cathodes of poly(1,4‐di(2‐thienyl))benzene (PDTB) and TiO2 grown on carbon papers to sandwich a Zn anode. The PDTB cathode is illuminated in a discharging process, in which photoelectrons are excited into the conduction band of PDTB to promote oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) and raise the output voltage. In a reverse process, holes in the valence band of the illuminated TiO2 cathode are driven for the oxygen evolution reaction (OER) by an applied voltage. A record‐high discharge voltage of 1.90 V and an unprecedented low charge voltage of 0.59 V are achieved in the photo‐involved Zn–air battery, regardless of the equilibrium voltage. This work offers an innovative pathway for photo‐energy utilization in rechargeable batteries.

Photo-enhanced rechargeable high-energy-density metal batteries for solar energy conversion and storage

“…Upon light irradiation, the discharge potential improves from 1.19 to 1.22 V, and the charge potential reduces from 1.94 to 1.90 V, inducing a decrease in voltage gap from 0.75 to 0.68 V at 10 mA•cm −2 . Li et al used a three-electrode cell to achieve a more effective enhancement in both the ORR and OER processes, where poly(1,4-di(2-thienyl))benzene promotes ORR and TiO2 helps to reduce the charge potential [97]. The as-fabricated ZABs demonstrate a high discharge potential of 1.9 V and an extremely low charge voltage of 0.59 V.…”

Surface plasmon mediates the visible light–responsive lithium–oxygen battery with Au nanoparticles on defective carbon nitride

“…Expanding the light harvesting from UV to visible light is the longterm goal and challenge of photocatalysis (17)(18)(19)(20). Simultaneously, high carrier recombination consumes the majority of photoelectrons and holes before catalyzing the targeted reactions, resulting in a mismatch between the carrier lifetime and kinetics of ORR or OER (19)(20)(21). This necessitates a structural design of semiconducting materials for visible-light harvesting to accelerate the cathode reactions in Li-O 2 batteries.…”

Integrated Photovoltaic Charging and Energy Storage Systems: Mechanism, Optimization, and Future

“…The rational design of the photovoltaic cell structure is beneficial to avoid problems such as mismatch between energy levels, carrier transport, reaction kinetics, and effective light absorption, and low efficiency. [60,141,142] In addition, a reasonable structural system can expand its applicable conditions, increase the universal scope of SPRBs, and provide favorable support for the next generation of efficient and functional SPRBs systems. Therefore, in this chapter, we give detailed analytical summaries from liquid and solid bases, which are summarized in tables at the end of this paper (Table 1).…”