A photovoltaic-driven solid-state Zn–CO2 electrochemical cell system with sunlight-insusceptible chemical production. Issue 27 (6th July 2020)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Wang, Xueyuan; Ghausi, Muhammad Arsalan; Yang, Rui; Wu, Maoxiang; Xie, Jiafang; Wang, Yaobing
• Is Part Of: Journal of materials chemistry. Volume 8:Issue 27(2020)
• Page Start: 13806
• Page End: 13811
• Publication Date: 2020-07-06
• Subjects: Materials -- Research -- Periodicals; Chemistry, Analytic -- Periodicals; Environmental sciences -- Research -- Periodicals; 543.0284
• DOI: 10.1039/d0ta01451f
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 2050-7488

Abstract

Abstract : A photovoltaic-driven solid-state Zn–CO2 electrochemical cell system continuously converts CO2, overcoming the real-time sunlight-dependence of natural leaves and current artificial leaves. Abstract : Artificial leaves conduct photo(electro)chemical reactions for chemical and fuel production directly driven by sunlight/photovoltaic cells. Therefore, only in the presence of real-time sunlight can artificial leaves generate chemicals and fuels, limiting the prolonged production and flexible application of artificial leaves. In this work, by simply coupling a photovoltaic cell with a solid-state Zn–CO2 electrochemical cell as a new conceptual artificial leaf, continuous chemical production not only with sunlight but also in the dark was realized. In this conceptual artificial leaf, photo-generated electricity from the photovoltaic cell was pre-stored in the electrochemical cell during charge and CO2 reduction occurred in discharge. With pure CO2 supply, the conceptual artificial leaf achieved a solar-to-CO efficiency up to 15.2%, which surpassed that of the record artificial leaves and was among the highest efficiencies for artificial photosynthesis devices. This work provides possibilities for developing more universal-applied artificial leaves producing chemicals and fuels with ever-changing sunlight.