On the Optimization of a Photo-Electrode: Interplay of Photoactive and Conductive Materials in a Lithium-Ion Photo-Battery

Abstract

Green and sustainable devices that can harvest and store the solar energy along with delivering electricity during dark periods have garnered much attention. This is owing to solar energy being the best renewable source of energy for producing clean electricity that can potentially meet demand on a global scale.Although silica solar panels can harvest sunlight, they must be coupled with conventional batteries such as lithium ion batteries (LIBs) to store the collected energy. Organic dyes offer many advantages to silica panels. They are lighter, cheaper, more versatile, as well as a more sustainable harvesting solution. We therefore took advantages of the benefits of LIBs and an organic dye to lay the groundwork required for developing an all-in-one device that potentially can harvest sunlight and store the energy directly in the LIB.An organic dye was judiciously selected based on its known properties that meet the requirements for light harvesting and charge transfer with the LIB active components. We have established structure/property relationships that have confirmed the dye can be reduced by the battery’s electroactive components upon light absorption. This will be complemented by steady-state and time-resolved solid-state emission quenching studies. It will be shown that Raman spectroscopy can provide further insight in the effect of the photobattery architecture and the conductive surfaces on the charge transfer processes. This will be complemented with electrochemical studies, including galvanostatic cycling with the dye with various photo-cathode architectures to further understand the role of the microstructure in the electronic transfer. Systematically replacing various components of the LIB with their organic counterparts will also be presented to elucidate the photocharge mechanisms and lay the groundwork for an all-in-one photobattery.