Tactile UV‐ and Solar‐Light Multi‐Sensing Rechargeable Batteries with Smart Self‐Conditioned Charge and Discharge

Abstract

A tactile, UV‐ and solar‐light multi‐sensing smart rechargeable Zn–air battery (SRZAB) with excellent cell performance, self‐conditioned charge/discharge, and reliable environmental responsivity is made by using multi‐scale conjugated block‐copolymer–carbon nanotube–polyurethane foam assemblies as both a self‐standing air electrode and a sensing unit. Multiscale engineering fully exploits the multi‐synergy among components to endow the newly designed metal‐free multi‐sensing air electrode (MSAE) with bifunctional oxygen reduction and evolution activities, pressure sensitivity, and photothermal and photoelectric conversion functions in a single electrode, enabling effective regulation of interface properties, electronic/ionic transport, or redox reactions in SRZAB upon various stimulations and establishing multiple working principles. MSAE‐driven SRZAB can be used as compressible power sources, self‐powered pressure and optical sensors and light‐to‐electrochemical energy systems.

Harvesting Air and Light Energy via “All‐in‐One” Polymer Cathodes for High‐Capacity, Self‐Chargeable, and Multimode‐Switching Zinc Batteries

“…[50] In general, in addition to catalytic active sites, the catalytic property of catalysts is also related with the electron and ion transport. [36] Thus, in our case, the photoresponsiveness of PANINA in Mode 3 mainly comes from the photothermal effect, which triggers local temperature rise to facilitate the electron and ion transport, thereby improving the ORR catalytic reaction rate of PANINA cathodes and the battery performance, similar to previous studies. [35][36][37] The improved redox kinetics is also confirmed by the EIS result that that charge transfer resistance is significantly reduced from 63.7 to 3.9 Ω under the light illumination (Figure S23, Supporting Information).…”

“…[36] Thus, in our case, the photoresponsiveness of PANINA in Mode 3 mainly comes from the photothermal effect, which triggers local temperature rise to facilitate the electron and ion transport, thereby improving the ORR catalytic reaction rate of PANINA cathodes and the battery performance, similar to previous studies. [35][36][37] The improved redox kinetics is also confirmed by the EIS result that that charge transfer resistance is significantly reduced from 63.7 to 3.9 Ω under the light illumination (Figure S23, Supporting Information). Importantly, when the battery is subjected to periodic illumination, one can see repeatable and reliable photoresponsiveness toward the discharge (Figure 5e).…”

“…[49,50] Similar phenomenon was also observed in previously reported photoassisted supercapacitors [50] and Zn-air batteries. [35][36][37] This is verified by the electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) analysis (Figure 2f) that exhibits reduced charge and ion transfer resistances after light illumination. [50] Taken together, rational micro/nanostructural engineering of active PANINA layers and integrated cathode design coupled with the photothermal effect enables the full demonstration the PANI electroactivity in near-neutral media, establishing a new type of light-assisted electrically rechargeable Zn-PANINA battery with remarkably improved specific capacity.…”

“…[1][2][3][4][5][6][7] To this end, aqueous rechargeable zinc (Zn) batteries have become a hot research subject owing to their large theoretical capacity (820 mAh g −1 ) and environmental-friendliness, high earth abundance of zinc, and high ionic conductivity On one hand, such integrated system could enable the direct compensation of energy consumption for energy storage units and realize self-charging without extra electricity input. On the other hand, the incorporation of desirable environmental energies (e.g., solar energy) into various batteries such as Zn-air batteries, [35][36][37] Li-ion batteries, [21][22][23] and Li-O 2 batteries [38,39] can improve the energy storage and conversion performance. Noteworthy, different from other environmental energies, air is pervasive with nearly constant concentration, rendering its potential use as a readily-available "energy resource" for various energy devices.…”

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

“…4% of the solar spectrum (14)(15)(16). 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).…”