Solar Energy Storage in an All-Vanadium Photoelectrochemical Cell: Structural Effect of Titania Nanocatalyst in Photoanode

Hao Feng, Jian Liu, Ying Zhang and Dong Liu
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Hao Feng: MIIT Key Laboratory of Thermal Control of Electronic Equipment, School of Energy and Power Engineering, Nanjing University of Science & Technology, Nanjing 210094, China
Jian Liu: College of Petrochemical Engineering, Lanzhou University of Technology, Lanzhou 730050, China
Ying Zhang: MIIT Key Laboratory of Thermal Control of Electronic Equipment, School of Energy and Power Engineering, Nanjing University of Science & Technology, Nanjing 210094, China
Dong Liu: MIIT Key Laboratory of Thermal Control of Electronic Equipment, School of Energy and Power Engineering, Nanjing University of Science & Technology, Nanjing 210094, China

Energies, 2022, vol. 15, issue 12, 1-11

Abstract: Solar energy storage in the form of chemical energy is considered a promising alternative for solar energy utilization. High-performance solar energy conversion and storage significantly rely on the sufficient active surface area and the efficient transport of both reactants and charge carriers. Herein, the structure evolution of titania nanotube photocatalyst during the photoanode fabrication and its effect on photoelectrochemical activity in a microfluidic all-vanadium photoelectrochemical cell was investigated. Experimental results have shown that there exist opposite variation trends for the pore structure and crystallinity of the photocatalyst. With the increase in calcination temperature, the active surface area and pore volume were gradually declined while the crystallinity was significantly improved. The trade-off between the gradually deteriorated sintering and optimized crystallinity of the photocatalyst then determined the photoelectrochemical reaction efficiency. The optimal average photocurrent density and vanadium ions conversion rate emerged at an appropriate calcination temperature, where both the plentiful pores and large active surface area, as well as good crystallinity, could be ensured to promote the photoelectrochemical activity. This work reveals the structure evolution of the nanostructured photocatalyst in influencing the solar energy conversion and storage, which is useful for the structural design of the photoelectrodes in real applications.

Keywords: all-vanadium photoelectrochemical cell; photoelectrochemical activity; structure evolution; physicochemical characteristics; solar energy storage (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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