Cheap and environmentally benign electrochemical energy storage and conversion devices based on AlI3 electrolytes

Bofei Xue; Zhengwen Fu; Hong Li; Xizhe Liu; Sunchao Cheng; Jia Yao; Dongmei Li; Liquan Chen; Qingbo Meng

doi:10.1021/ja057791v

Cheap and environmentally benign electrochemical energy storage and conversion devices based on AlI3 electrolytes

J Am Chem Soc. 2006 Jul 12;128(27):8720-1. doi: 10.1021/ja057791v.

Authors

Bofei Xue¹, Zhengwen Fu, Hong Li, Xizhe Liu, Sunchao Cheng, Jia Yao, Dongmei Li, Liquan Chen, Qingbo Meng

Affiliation

¹ Beijing National Laboratory for Condensed Matter Physics, Institute of Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100080, People's Republic of China.

PMID: 16819852
DOI: 10.1021/ja057791v

Abstract

Cheap and environmentally benign electrochemical energy conversion and storage devices, including a dye-sensitized solar cell (DSSC) using an AlI3-ethanol electrolyte and a new Al/I2 primary battery, are reported. The AlI3-ethanol electrolyte can be prepared simply by adding aluminum powder and iodine into ethanol at ambient conditions. The DSSC using this AlI3-ethanol electrolyte achieved an energy conversion efficiency of 5.9% at AM 1.5 (100 mW/cm-2). In the Al/I2 battery, AlI3 is formed spontaneously when aluminum and iodine electrodes are brought into contact at room temperature. Then I- anions transport across the AlI3 solid electrolyte for further electrochemical reactions.