Premium
Direct Solar Charging of an Organic–Inorganic, Stable, and Aqueous Alkaline Redox Flow Battery with a Hematite Photoanode
Author(s) -
Wedege Kristina,
Azevedo João,
Khataee Amirreza,
Bentien Anders,
Mendes Adélio
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
angewandte chemie
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 1521-3757
pISSN - 0044-8249
DOI - 10.1002/ange.201602451
Subject(s) - flow battery , redox , ferrocyanide , polyaniline , chemistry , aqueous solution , chemical engineering , solar cell , hematite , inorganic chemistry , electrolyte , materials science , electrode , polymer , optoelectronics , mineralogy , polymerization , organic chemistry , engineering
The intermittent nature of the sunlight and its increasing contribution to electricity generation is fostering the energy storage research. Direct solar charging of an auspicious type of redox flow battery could make solar energy directly and efficiently dispatchable. The first solar aqueous alkaline redox flow battery using low cost and environmentally safe materials is demonstrated. The electrolytes consist of the redox couples ferrocyanide and anthraquinone‐2,7‐disulphonate in sodium hydroxide solution, yielding a standard cell potential of 0.74 V. Photovoltage enhancement strategies are demonstrated for the ferrocyanide‐hematite junction by employing an annealing treatment and growing a layer of a conductive polyaniline polymer on the electrode surface, which decreases electron–hole recombination.