A Value‐Added Solar‐Mediated Rechargeable Battery Integrating Efficient Photoelectrochemical Energy Storage with Sunlight‐Boosted Self‐Powered H <sub>2</sub> O <sub>2</sub> Production from Natural Seawater
Abstract Developing sustainable functional batteries capable of generating valuable chemicals during electricity storage/release represents challenging frontiers. Here, we present a new battery chemistry that enables the first value‐added solar‐mediated rechargeable seawater battery integrating photoelectrochemical energy storage with sunlight‐boosted self‐powered H 2 O 2 production from seawater without external power/O 2 supply. This system is enabled by rationally‐designed bifunctional S‐scheme heterojunction photocathodes (MP‐COP@TiO 2 ) comprising A3‐(D‐core) polymer (MP‐COP) encapsulated TiO 2 . A3‐(D‐core) topology induces favorable electronic modulation that optimizes oxygen specie adsorption and steering oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) toward one‐step 2e – pathway—while facilitating electronic coupling with oxygen evolution reaction (OER)‐active TiO 2 to establish S‐scheme charge transfer mechanism alongside strengthened built‐in electric field. These endow MP‐COP@TiO 2 with sunlight‐boosted 4e – OER for in situ O 2 ‐generation during photo‐charge and 2e – ORR for on‐site H 2 O 2 synthesis during photo‐discharge, establishing solar‐mediated self‐sustaining value‐added reaction cycles. Integrating MP‐COP@TiO 2 with sodium anodes and seawater creates previously‐unexplored functional battery, yielding remarkable H 2 O 2 yield of 5.47 mmol g −1 h −1 during photo‐discharge—9.4 times those in dark and exceeding most reported seawater systems while delivering near‐zero charge/discharge voltage gap under illumination. Mechanistic studies reveal promoting effect of A3‐(D‐core) modulation and its synergistic role with S‐scheme charge transfer that promotes Yeager‐type O 2 adsorption and facilitates one‐step 2e – ORR toward H 2 O 2 .
Authors
- Dongmei Han
- Dongxiang Luo
- Linfeng Zhong
- Dingshan Yu
- Xiaoqi Gong
- Cong Liu
- Fan Yang
- Yi Lin
- Xiaotong Wang
Institutions
- Guangzhou University (CN)
- Jiangxi Science and Technology Normal University (CN)
- Ministry of Education (IR)
- Ministry of Education (BD)
- Jiangxi Normal University (CN)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Angewandte Chemie
- Published
- 2026-01-20
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1002/ange.202523063
- Primary Topic
- Electrocatalysts for Energy Conversion
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00