Proceedings of MATSUS Fall 2023 Conference (MATSUSFall23)
DOI: https://doi.org/10.29363/nanoge.matsus.2023.210
Publication date: 18th July 2023
The intermittent nature of solar energy is one of the main causes that is delaying the implementation of this renewable energy. In fact, to cover the energy mismatch between production and consumption, it is common for solar cells to be connected to a storage system, mainly batteries. However, having two connected devices is not very practical for portable electronic systems where it is important to keep volume and weight small and require low power consumption. In this context, in recent years research on solar-electrochemical energy storage in a single technology, particularly based on Li-ion batteries, is increasing (LIBs)1, 2.
In this study we present the fabrication of a lithium battery in an adapted coin cell capable of being directly recharged with light energy thanks to the design of a photoelectrode based on a heterostructured Cu2O-TiO2 film3. The electrodeposited Cu2O semiconductor layer is the light harvester component of the photoelectrode, and the TiO2 nanoparticle layer acts as the host of Li+ ions. The semiconductor energy bands and the electrochemical redox potential of the processes involved were determined by UV-vis and UPS spectroscopy and cyclic voltammetry (CV) of the Cu2O and TiO2 films individually. The fabricated half-cell photobattery can be charged in open circuit using only light energy (1 Sun), so that when discharged in darkness at 0.1 C it provides ~150 mAh g-1. The overall system efficiency is 0.29%, calculated as the ratio of output electric energy to input light energy. This value is about an order of magnitude higher than the values reported for the photocharge of lithium-based batteries 1, 4, and is similar to that of zinc-based batteries 5.
M.H. acknowledges the funding support from MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033 and European Union "ESF Investing in your future" for the Ramón y Cajal fellowship (RYC2018-025222-I) and the project PID2019-108247RA-I00. E.J.J.-P. acknowledges the funding support from MCIN/AEI/ 10.13039/501100011033 and European Union
NextGenerationEU/ PRTR (project grants PID2019-107893RB-I00 and EIN2020-112315, respectively).
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