Direct solar energy conversion and storage through coupling between photoelectrochemical and ferroelectric effects

Abstract

Harvesting and storing solar energy has become more and more important. Current solid-state photovoltaic cells and conventional photoelectrochemical cells are not capable of directly storing the converted energy, which has to be facilitated by connecting to external storing devices. We demonstrate a device architecture that can convert and store solar energy in the electrical form within an intrinsically single structure. Mobile charge is internally stored, based on the coupling between photoelectrochemical and ferroelectric effects. The tested device architecture can be photo-charged under 1000 W/m2 of white light to an open-circuit voltage of 0.47V with a capacity of 37.62 mC/cm2. After removal of the light source, the mobile charge stored lasts more than 8 hours, and the open-circuit output voltage lasts more than 24 hours

Energy storage via polyvinylidene fluoride dielectric on the counterelectrode of dye-sensitized solar cells

“…Previous work in our group reported that PVDF/Si powder composites could be used as active materials to fabricate a two-electrode DSSC-like photocapacitor, which showed high photoresponse, rechargeability, and long-term storage properties [10]. It implied that the two parts of the PSC can share a single electrolyte, and the dielectric material-functionalized counterelectrode (CE) permits energy storage.…”

“…However, a PVDF/Si photoelectrode can harvest energy, since it generates an open circuit voltage of 0.47 V under solar irradiation. This complicates the role of a PVDF dielectric film for energy storage [10]. In this work, TiO 2 DSSCs with CEs functionalized only by a PVDF dielectric were fabricated.…”

Scattering-layer-induced energy storage function in polymer-based quasi-solid-state dye-sensitized solar cells

“…[8][9][10][11][12][13] Traditional two-electrode PSCs could not provide continuous power output after being fully charged under steady illumination, since the photogenerated charges are depleted to charge the energy storage section. [8][9][10] In our previous work, a new type of twoelectrode PSC based on dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) was reported with both good photo-to-electric conversion efficiency (g) and energy storage capacity via introducing composited ZnO/polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) nanostructure in CE. 12 The polymer/nanostructured oxide system could possess energy storage capability while allowing the passage of carriers through the structure.…”

“…[1][2][3][4][5][6][7] Another type of PSCs could be regarded as simplex devices, since they contain only two electrodes: One is for solar energy conversion (photoelectrode) and the other is for energy storage (counter electrode, CE). [8][9][10][11][12][13] Traditional two-electrode PSCs could not provide continuous power output after being fully charged under steady illumination, since the photogenerated charges are depleted to charge the energy storage section. [8][9][10] In our previous work, a new type of twoelectrode PSC based on dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) was reported with both good photo-to-electric conversion efficiency (g) and energy storage capacity via introducing composited ZnO/polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) nanostructure in CE.…”

“…Hybridization of photoelectric conversion and energy storage functions in devices has attracted great attentions in recent years due to the increasing demand of renewable energy around the world and the miniaturization and multifunctionalization in electronics industry. [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13] Typically, such photo-self-charging cells (PSCs) consist of two independent sections, a solar cell and a supercapacitor/lithium ion battery. Thus, there were three electrodes in these PSCs.…”