Light-enhanced Electrochemical Energy Storage of Synthetic Melanin on Conductive Glass Substrates. (2020)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Xu, Ri; Gouda, Abdelaziz; Caso, Maria Federica; Soavi, Francesca; Santato, Clara
• Is Part Of: MRS advances. Volume 5:Number 27/28(2020)
• Page Start: 1441
• Page End: 1448
• Publication Date: 2020
• Subjects: energy storage, -- optical properties, -- environmentally benign, -- sustainability; Electrical engineering -- Congresses; Physics -- Congresses; Materials -- Research -- Congresses; Materials science -- Congresses; 620.11
• DOI: 10.1557/adv.2019.463
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 2059-8521

Abstract

ABSTRACT: Eumelanin is a redox active, quinone-based biopigment, featuring a broad band absorption in the UV-Vis region. The combination of the redox and optical properties makes eumelanin an interesting candidate to explore light-assisted storage technologies. Electrodes of melanin on indium tin oxide (ITO) current collectors were investigated for their morphological and voltammetric characteristics in aqueous electrolytes. Under solar light, we observed that the capacity and the capacitance of the melanin electrodes significantly increase with respect to the dark conditions (by 63% and 73%, respectively).