Breakthrough in Energy Storage Technology Researchers Develop Two-in-One Device to Harvest and Store Light

Researchers from Clemson University and the Indian Institute of Science have developed a new metal oxide-based supercapacitor that can store solar energy more efficiently. This development could pave the way for a new technology that captures energy from the environment in a more practical way. Unlike traditional batteries, supercapacitors don't need a chemical reaction to store energy, allowing them to be rapidly charged and discharged. However, until now, two separate devices were required to harvest light into electricity and to store it. This made the overall system bulky and impractical. To overcome this challenge, the scientists developed a metal oxide-based optically responsive symmetrical supercapacitor using a novel stacked vanadium pentoxide/zinc oxide semiconducting heterostructure on fluorine-doped tin oxide glass. The new device converts light to electrical energy and stores it, reducing the overall bulkiness of the system. The researchers stacked vanadium pentoxide and zinc oxide to create a unique heterostructure, one which improved on past materials’ ability to convert light to electrical energy. In a test to measure its ability to store harvested light, the new device bested the previous record by a factor of four. The scientiest, stated that "the driving force behind the research is to open doors to another technology besides solar cells, which has already become a mature field, to capture the energy that is all around us." 

The researchers found that the device showed excellent electrochemical performance and stability for over 5,000 cycles. Zinc oxide has been widely used in light-dependent charge transfer applications, such as photovoltaics and photocatalysis, due to its low cost, high carrier mobility, long carrier diffusion, ease of synthesis on substrates, and non-toxicity. Its wide band gap restricts its utility to a narrow light spectrum, but by stacking it with vanadium pentoxide, the researchers were able to improve its performance.The development of this new supercapacitor could have significant implications for the future of renewable energy storage. With more efficient and practical ways to store solar energy, we may be able to reduce our reliance on traditional fossil fuels and move towards a more sustainable future.

Reference

10.1039/D2TA06790K