Photovoltaic conversion technology, which directly converts solar energy into electricity, is one of the crucial pathways for China to advance its energy revolution, tackle climate change, and achieve "dual-carbon" development. Recently, Associate Researcher Siyuan Yang from the School of Materials and Energy at South China Agricultural University, together with Professor Feng Peng from Guangzhou University and Professor Xiaosong Zhou from Lingnan Normal University, made new advancements in the research field of light-charged lithium-sulfur batteries using a "cause-and-effect oriented" approach. The relevant findings were published in "Angewandte Chemie International Edition."
In recent years, with the development of grid systems, artificial intelligence devices, and wearable self-powered small electronic products, the integrated photovoltaic rechargeable batteries (IPRBs) have gained widespread attention from researchers both domestically and internationally. This advanced IPRBs system not only boasts higher theoretical energy conversion/storage efficiency but also simplifies equipment configurations, providing advantages such as enhanced safety, miniaturization, portability, and flexibility. IPRBs also hold promise in imparting intelligent functions to traditional batteries, expanding their applications in smart electronics, optoelectronics, and sensor fields, such as self-powered optoelectronic sensors, showcasing broad application prospects.
The study found that the photocatalytic effect of graphene-loaded cadmium sulfide (rGO/CdS) effectively anchors polysulfides to reduce shuttle effects, thus improving the energy conversion efficiency and stability of IPR-LiSBs. Moreover, the presence of polysulfides actually enhances the photo-corrosion stability of CdS. Experimental results demonstrate that the discharge specific capacity of IPR-LiSBs composed of rGO/CdS photoelectrodes increases to 971.30 mA h g-1 at high current density (1C), which is a 113.3% improvement compared to dark conditions. Notably, PRLSBs can sustain a discharge process for 21 hours with just 1.5 hours of illumination, achieving a solar-to-electricity conversion efficiency of up to 5.04%.
The study, employing a "cause-and-effect oriented" approach, proposes the introduction of rGO/CdS photoelectrodes in IPR-LiSBs, leveraging the intersection of the problems between "soluble polysulfides leading to poor cycling stability of LiSBs" and "excellent photoactivity of CdS but requiring sacrificial agents to enhance its photo-corrosion stability," thus forming an "advantageous mechanism of complementing each other's strengths and weaknesses."
Related paper information: https://doi.org/10.1002/anie.202403022
