Integrated Photo‐Responsive Batteries for Solar Energy Harnessing: Recent Advances, Challenges, and Opportunities

Abstract

responsive batteries that enable the effective combination of solar harvesting and energy conversion/storage functionalities render a potential solution to achieve the large-scale utilization of unlimited and cost-effective solar energy and alleviate the limits of conventional energy storage devices. The internal integration of photo-responsive electrodes into rechargeable batteries with the simplest two-electrode configuration is regarded as a reliable and appealing strategy for highly-efficient and low-cost utilization of solar energy by simplifying the device architecture and improving the energy efficiency. This progress report provides a brief review on photo-responsive batteries with integrated two-electrode configuration that can achieve solar energy conversion/storage in one single device. The basic device architecture, operating principles and practical performance of various photo-responsive systems based on solar energy harvesting in various batteries including Li ion batteries, LiÀ S batteries, LiÀ I batteries, dual-liquid redox batteries, LiÀ O 2 batteries, non-Li anode-O 2 /air batteries are summarized and discussed. Finally, the future opportunities and challenges regarding the two-electrode photo-responsive batteries are proposed.[a] Dr.

Vanadium Dioxide Cathodes for High‐Rate Photo‐Rechargeable Zinc‐Ion Batteries

“…Solar cells are oftentimes used in conjunction with batteries or supercapacitors to smooth out the intermittent nature of insolation, and interesting research has recently been undertaken in the integration of energy harvesting and storage technologies. [ 1–4 ] However, combining solar cells with electrochemical energy storage devices typically requires electronics to match the output of the energy harvester to the requirements of the storage systems. [ 5,6 ] This approach also adds to the device complexity and ohmic contact losses.…”

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

“…[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.…”

Iodine Redox Chemistry in Rechargeable Batteries

“…Thei nert hematite in an aqueous catholyte exhibited profound stability for 600 hw ithout any noticeable performance decay or photocorrosion. [33] This achievement demonstrates that the combination of fundamental electrochemistry with photoelectrochemistry can improve the energy efficiency of flow battery systems.…”