title: Integrating a Photocatalyst into a Hybrid Lithium-Sulfur Battery for Direct Storage of Solar Energy.
abstract: Direct capture and storage of abundant but intermittent solar energy in electrical energy-storage devices such as rechargeable lithium batteries is of great importance, and could provide a promising solution to the challenges of energy shortage and environment pollution. Here we report a new prototype of a solar-driven chargeable lithium-sulfur (Li-S) battery, in which the capture and storage of solar energy was realized by oxidizing S(2-) ions to polysulfide ions in aqueous solution with a Pt-modified CdS photocatalyst. The battery can deliver a specific capacity of 792 mAh g(-1) during 2 h photocharging process with a discharge potential of around 2.53 V versus Li(+)/Li. A specific capacity of 199 mAh g(-1), reaching the level of conventional lithium-ion batteries, can be achieved within 10 min photocharging. Moreover, the charging process of the battery can proceed under natural sunlight irradiation.
authors.affiliation: Energy Technology Research Institute, National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology, Umezono 1-1-1, Tsukuba, 305-8568 (Japan).
authors.forename: Na
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Energy Technology Research Institute, National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology, Umezono 1-1-1, Tsukuba, 305-8568 (Japan).
authors.forename: Yarong
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: International Center for Young Scientists and World Premier International Center for Materials, National Institute for Materials Science, Namiki 1-1, Tsukuba, 305-0044 (Japan).
authors.forename: Daiming
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Tang
authors.affiliation: Energy Technology Research Institute, National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology, Umezono 1-1-1, Tsukuba, 305-8568 (Japan). hs.zhou@aist.go.jp, hszhou@nju.edu.cn.|National Laboratory of Solid State Microstructures & Department of Energy Science and Engineering, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210093 (China). hs.zhou@aist.go.jp, hszhou@nju.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Haoshen
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Zhou
keywords: electrochemical storage; hydrogen; lithium-sulfur battery; photocatalysis; solar energy storage