[freebeard]

here's another one: phys.org/news: A photo-rechargeable lead-free perovskite lithium-ion battery that generates and stores energy

The increasing demand for sustainable energy sources has driven a surge of interest in solar energy and developing storage devices for it. One such device, the photo-battery, is capable of both generating and storing energy in a single device architecture. In theory, this design should permit increased energy storage efficiency and energy density, while decreasing ohmic losses, relaxing packaging requirements and thus reducing the weight, the bulk, and the cost of the system. In reality, however, the poor interface between materials tends to create problems with charge transport, greatly reducing the efficiency in comparison to the simple system of a solar cell wired to an external battery.

A team led by Prof. Jonathan Eugene HALPERT, Assistant Professor from the Department of Chemistry at HKUST, has made advancements towards developing more efficient photobatteries by expanding the utility of a class of materials known as perovskite, which has had applications in solar cells and most recently in batteries. The perovskite halide the team developed acts as a photoelectrode that can harvest energy under illumination without the assistance of an external load in a lithium-ion battery, and is in stark contrast with its existing counterpart for it does not contain lead, hence it has higher stability in air and is free from the concerns of lead poisoning. For their research, the team has replaced lead with bismuth (Bi), a non-toxic element, and forming a strongly light-absorbing crystalline material.