MSE research team, led by Prof. Gao Xueping and Prof. Li Guoran, developed a solar rechargeable battery based on hydrogen storage mechanism in dual-phase electrolyte.
Solar water splitting is an effective approach to hydrogen production and application of solar energy. However, the photo-generated hydrogen should be initially stored in high pressure cylinder and subsequently applied in hydrogen-oxygen fuel cells. Herein, a solar rechargeable battery is proposed based mainly on hydrogen storage mechanism in dual-phase electrolyte. Specifically, the hydrogen production, storage and utilization are integrated into a hybrid system of the dye-sensitized solar cell and electrochemical cell with the dye-sensitized TiO2 as photo-anode, LiI as the cathode active material in organic electrolyte, AB5-type hydrogen storage alloy as anode in alkaline solution, and PEDOT-modified Nafion membrane as separator. Here, the photo-generated electrons in organic electrolyte pass to the AB5-type hydrogen storage alloy to split water in alkaline aqueous electrolyte for generating hydrogen, which is in situ stored into AB5-type hydrogen storage alloy. Subsequently, the hydrogen stored in the AB5-type hydrogen storage alloy can be oxidized by electrochemical way to generate electricity, coupled with LiI cathode in organic electrolyte. The solar rechargeable battery demonstrates a new solution of the solar energy conversion, hydrogen production, storage, and utilization, achieving the new energy conversion and storage from solar energy to chemical energy, and further to electrical energy.
The work was published by Nano Energy, PDF