Design and Fabrication of a Dual-Photoelectrode Fuel Cell towards Cost-Effective Electricity Production from Biomass

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• 作者：Bingqing Zhang ; Wenjun Fan ; Tingting Yao ; Shichao Liao ; Ailong Li ; Deng Li ; Mingyao Liu ; Prof. Jingying Shi ; Prof. Shijun Liao and Prof. Can Li
• 刊名：ChemSusChem
• 出版年：2017
• 出版时间：January 10, 2017
• 年：2017
• 卷：10
• 期：1
• 页码：99-105
• 全文大小：1308K
• ISSN：1864-564X

文摘

A photo fuel cell (PFC) offers an attractive way to simultaneously convert solar and biomass energy into electricity. Photocatalytic biomass oxidation on a semiconductor photoanode combined with dark electrochemical reduction of oxygen molecules on a metal cathode (usually Pt) in separated compartments is the common configuration for a PFC. Herein, we report a membrane-free PFC based on a dual electrode, including a W-doped BiVO₄ photoanode and polyterthiophene photocathode for solar-stimulated biomass-to-electricity conversion. Air- and water-soluble biomass derivatives can be directly used as reagents. The optimal device yields an open-circuit voltage (V_OC) of 0.62 V, a short-circuit current density (J_SC) of 775 μA cm⁻², and a maximum power density (P_max) of 82 μW cm⁻² with glucose as the feedstock under tandem illumination, which outperforms dual-photoelectrode PFCs previously reported. Neither costly separating membranes nor Pt-based catalysts are required in the proposed PFC architecture. Our work may inspire rational device designs for cost-effective electricity generation from renewable resources.