A Hybrid Energy Cell for Self-Powered Water Splitting†
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Energy & Environmental Science View Article Online COMMUNICATION View Journal | View Issue A hybrid energy cell for self-powered water splitting† a a a a a a Cite this: Energy Environ. Sci., 2013, 6, Ya Yang, Hulin Zhang, Zong-Hong Lin, Yan Liu, Jun Chen, Ziyin Lin, a a ab 2429 Yu Sheng Zhou, Ching Ping Wong and Zhong Lin Wang* Received 30th April 2013 Accepted 30th May 2013 DOI: 10.1039/c3ee41485j www.rsc.org/ees Production of hydrogen (H2) by splitting water using the electrolysis effect is a potential source of clean and renewable energy. However, Broader context it usually requires an external power source to drive the oxidation or We fabricated a hybrid energy cell that consists of a triboelectric nano- reduction reactions of H2O molecules, which largely limits the generator, a thermoelectric cell, and a solar cell, which can be used to development of this technology. Here, we fabricated a hybrid energy simultaneously or individually harvest the mechanical, thermal, and solar cell that is an integration of a triboelectric nanogenerator, a ther- energies. Instead of using an external power source, the hybrid energy cell can be directly used for self-powered water splitting to generate hydrogen. moelectric cell, and a solar cell, which can be used to simultaneously/ The volume of the produced H2 has a linear relationship with the splitting À À individually harvest mechanical, thermal, and/or solar energies. The time at a production speed of 4 Â 10 4 mL s 1. Moreover, the produced power output of the hybrid energy cell can be directly used for energies can be stored in a Li-ion battery for water splitting and other uses. splitting water without an external power source. The volume of the produced H2 has a linear relationship with the splitting time at a À4 À1 mandatory for electrolysis, which makes it economically inef- production speed of 4 Â 10 mL s . Moreover, the produced cient for energy applications. Alternatively, we may harvest energies can also be stored in a Li-ion battery for water splitting as energy from our living environment that can be directly utilized well as other uses. for electrolysis without using an external power source. The purpose of developing self-powered nanotechnology is to use Introduction the multimode energy sources for powering small electronic devices (such as LCDs, LEDs, and phones) or achieving some Published on 30 May 2013. Downloaded by CASE WESTERN RESERVE UNIVERSITY 10/03/2014 21:40:46. Hydrogen (H2) as an environmentally benign fuel is one of the electrochemical applications (such as electrodeposition and 1 sustainable and clean-energies. Currently, the main produc- electrodegradation).7–9 tion of H2 comes from steam reformation of natural gas, which Harvesting mechanical, thermal, and solar energies is not only consumes natural resources but also generates carbon usually based on different physical effects. Utilizing the contact 2 dioxide as an undesired byproduct. To be environmentally and separation between two polymers or polymer–metal mate- friendly and economically competitive, it is necessary to develop rials, the triboelectric nanogenerators (TENGs) have been ff 3 a cost-e ective technology for mass production of H2. Photo- extensively designed for scavenging mechanical energy from catalytic splitting of water into H2 and O2 by using solar energy irregular mechanical vibrations.10,11 Thermal energy can be ffi 4,5 is one of the e cient approaches. By using the electrolysis harvested using thermoelectric cells, which are based on the ff e ect, water can be directly split into H2, which was discovered Seebeck effect.12,13 Solar cells are usually fabricated using the 6 more than 200 years ago. However, an external power source for optoelectronic effect.14–16 However, these energies are not always driving the oxidation or reduction reactions of H2O molecules is available at the same time, depending on weather, day/night, and physical locations. Hybrid energy cells have been developed aSchool of Materials Science and Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, to simultaneously or individually harvest these energies by Georgia 30332-0245, USA. E-mail: [email protected] designing an integrated system,17,18 which consists of three bBeijing Institute of Nanoenergy and Nanosystems, Chinese Academy of Sciences, kinds of energy harvesters. In this paper, we demonstrated a China – † Electronic supplementary information (ESI) available: The additional movie hybrid energy cell that consists of a polyamide (PA) per- les include the self-powered water splitting to generate H2 by directly using uoroalkoxy (PFA) polymer lm-based TENG, a Bi2Te3-based the hybrid energy cell (movie le-1) and by using the charged Li-ion battery thermoelectric cell, and a silicon (Si)-based solar cell, which can (movie le-2), where the playback speed of the movie was increased by 10 times be used to simultaneously/individually harvest mechanical, than the normal speed. See DOI: 10.1039/c3ee41485j This journal is ª The Royal Society of Chemistry 2013 Energy Environ. Sci., 2013, 6, 2429–2434 | 2429 View Article Online Energy & Environmental Science Communication thermal, and/or solar energies. Instead of the external power machines. Aer that Al paste and Ag grids were screen-printed source, the power output from the hybrid energy cell was either on the backside and top of the Si substrate, followed by co- directly used for water splitting to generate H2 or charging Li- ring of both contacts. During the ring step, an Al-doped Si ion batteries. layer, referred to as the aluminum back surface eld, is also formed. The silicon wafer was then cut into many pieces for the hybrid energy cells. Under the light illumination intensity Experimental À2 of 100 mW cm , the output performance of the solar cells was Fabrication of the hybrid energy cell measured. The fabricated TENG includes a PA lm (thickness of 25 mm), a PFA lm (thickness of 25 mm), and two Cu electrodes. A Measurement of the hybrid energy cell and the splitting of homemade force loading system was used to apply the period- water to generate H2 ically compressive forces on the TENG, where the contact/ The output voltage of the device was measured using a low- separation between the PA and PFA lms can result in the noise voltage preamplier (Keithley 6514 System Electrometer). output of the device. The bottom Bi2Te3-based thermoelectric The output current of the device was measured using a low- – cell was used to give the output voltage current under the noise current preamplier (Stanford Research SR560). The ff temperature di erence across the device, which was induced by voltage–current curves of Si-based solar cells were measured by using a heated source. A temperature sensor was used to detect using a Keithley 4200 semiconductor characterization system. the change in temperature of the device. The performance of the Li-ion battery was measured using a For the Si-based solar cell, p-type silicon (100) wafers were battery analyzer (MTI Corporation). In the measurement of the used. KOH etching was performed in a solution of KOH (2–3wt splitting of water to generate H2, the Pt electrode was used as – %), water, and isopropyl alcohol (20% by volume) at 80 85 C the anode. 3% NaCl was added into the water solution to – for 20 30 min to create pyramidal structures. To form nano- improve the conductivity. A transparent collection tube was structures, a thin discontinuous layer of Au nanoparticles was used to store the produced H2 at the cathode. A camera was deposited by e-beam evaporation, followed by metal assisted used to record the time and the volume of the produced H2. – chemical etching in a HF H2O2 solution (49% HF, 30% H2O2, and H2O with a volume ratio of 1 : 5 : 10) for 1 min. Subse- Results and discussion quently, the Au nanoparticles were removed by immersing the samples in KI–I2 (100 g of KI and 25 g of I2 per 1 L of H2O). The A schematic diagram of a fabricated hybrid energy cell is wafers were cleaned to remove surface organic and metallic sketched in Fig. 1a. A TENG was fabricated on the top for har- contaminants, followed by POCl3 diffusion to form the 65 U vesting mechanical energy. In this study, the PA and PFA poly- À1 sq n+-emitter. Al2O3 and SiN passivation layers were coated mer lms at the opposite ends of the triboelectric series were using Cambridge NanoTech Plasma ALD and Unaxis PECVD purposely chosen as the triboelectric layers for the effective Published on 30 May 2013. Downloaded by CASE WESTERN RESERVE UNIVERSITY 10/03/2014 21:40:46. Fig. 1 (a) Schematic diagram of the fabricated hybrid energy cell including a TENG and a thermoelectric cell. (b) Photograph of the hybrid energy cell. (c) AFM images of the PA and PFA films. 2430 | Energy Environ. Sci., 2013, 6, 2429–2434 This journal is ª The Royal Society of Chemistry 2013 View Article Online Communication Energy & Environmental Science electrication during the contact/separation process. On each sd Voc ¼ (1) polymer lm, a layer of metal Cu electrode was fabricated on the 30 external surface. A periodic loading force was applied on the top where s is the triboelectric charge density, d is the interlayer of the device to induce the contact and separation between the distance, and 3 is the permittivity in vacuum.20 According to two polymer lms. As illustrated in Fig. 1a, a Bi Te -based 0 2 3 eqn (1), the output voltage V can be increased by increasing thermoelectric cell was designed at the bottom for harvesting oc the interlayer distance d. thermal energy. A thermal source was used at the bottom of the Fig.