This technology is an energy storage device featuring metal nanoparticles, such as gold, silver, or palladium, formed on a conductive compound of the cathode in a cell consisting of a cathode, electrolyte, and anode. When illuminated, the surface plasmon effect of the nanoparticles generates hot electrons and hot holes, which accelerate the redox reactions of the electrode.
Batteries such as lithium-air batteries have historically suffered from very high overpotential during the charging process, where discharge products must be decomposed and oxygen generated. This leads to a large voltage gap between charging and discharging, resulting in low energy efficiency and degraded device performance over repeated cycles.
This technology involves depositing 3–100 nm metal nanoparticles onto conductive carbon (such as carbon black or carbon nanotubes) or metal at a ratio of at least 20 parts by weight per 100 parts of the conductive compound. During operation, the device is irradiated with 300–900 nm light to generate hot carriers. Hot electrons accelerate reduction reactions, while hot holes accelerate oxidation reactions, with reduction products forming as a film. Applicable to lithium-air, sodium-air, and lithium-sulfur batteries, as well as lithium/sodium-ion hybrid capacitors, this technology utilizes external light energy to reduce charging overpotential and improve round-trip energy efficiency.
This invention was developed through the Core Research Support Center project funded by the Ministry of Education.
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