U.S. Designs Solar Energy Conversion Efficiency Roadmap for Artificial Leaves

Since the concept of “artificial leaves” was proposed, scientists have always placed high hopes on it, hoping that it will eventually bring about a cheap self-control system that will provide electricity to the billions of people in developing countries. According to a report recently organized by the Physicists Organization Network, a research team at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) conducted a detailed analysis and redesign of the "artificial leaf" system's efficiency constraints, making it more realistic and promising to bring about A practical, cheap commercial prototype. Related papers are published in the United States "Journal of National Science Research."

The "artificial leaf" system combines two technologies: one is a standard silicon solar cell that converts solar energy into electricity, and the other is a chemical catalyst that connects the two sides of the battery. The combination of the two becomes an electrochemical device that uses photocurrent to decompose water into hydrogen and oxygen, and the generated hydrogen can be reused for power generation through a fuel cell or other device. In this system, the performance of both the photovoltaic system and the electrochemical system is determined, so the combined efficiency of the two is also predictable.

In the paper, the researchers described a framework they designed to guide people how to more effectively combine the output power of solar cells and electrochemical reaction systems, and propose more economical use of existing solar cell technologies (such as silicon or deuteration). The cadmium) scheme and determined some efficiency limits. "This is a fairly comprehensive analysis of the best things the technology currently available in the market can do," said Mark Winkler, a postdoctoral researcher at MIT.

The team first showed their "artificial leaves" in 2011, but the conversion efficiency at that time was less than 4.7%. The new study is a continuation of the original "conceptual argumentation." According to the latest analysis, ITO Mechanical Engineering Associate Professor Tony Bonaces, using single-gap semiconductors such as crystalline silicon, combined with cobalt and nickel-based oxidation catalysts, the maximum conversion efficiency may reach 16% or more.

"We are also very surprised." Winkler said that the traditional view that the characteristics of silicon solar cells severely limits their water decomposition efficiency, but it is not the case. The key to improving the conversion efficiency of “solar-fuel” is to combine the right batteries with the right catalysts. This requires a road map to guide people on how to match to achieve the best. Bernaces said that using their designed framework for simulation, the maximum efficiency limit for conventional silicon-based systems is approximately 16%; for gallium arsenide battery systems, the efficiency limit is 18%.

One of the authors of the paper, former MIT graduate student Kassandra Cox said: "The significance of the paper is that it describes all of the existing technologies and the effect of combining these technologies. It also pointed out that All the challenges to be faced, researchers can analyze these unfavorable factors through experiments alone."

For example, a standard silicon solar cell generates a voltage of about 0.7 volts, and a water decomposition reaction requires more than 1.2 volts. One solution is to connect multiple batteries in series. Although the battery interface will lose energy, but it is also a promising research direction. Another unfavorable factor is the water itself. The electrons must pass through the entire circuit. This produces resistance. One way to increase the efficiency is to reduce the solution resistance. This can be achieved by "some tricks", such as using an interposer board to reduce the response. The distance on both sides. (Chang Lijun)

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