Improving Performance of an Integrated Solar Flow Battery by Cr- and Cu-Doped TiO(2) Photoelectrodes

This work reports on the preparation of Cr-doped TiO(2) (Cr–TiO(2)), Cu-doped (Cu-TiO(2)), and its utilization in the photoanode of a solar redox flow battery (SRFB). A pure TiO(2) electrode, Cr-doped TiO(2) electrode, and Cu-doped TiO(2) electrode coated with different layers are prepared by the sol-gel method. XRD, XPS, and SEM are used to characterize the relevant data of the electrode. All three electrodes show the structure of the anatase phase, but the Cu-TiO(2) and Cr-TiO(2) electrodes are more crystalline. Using these materials as photoelectrodes to prepare integrated solar flow cells, the semi-cell and full-cell tests show that the doping of Cr and Cu improves the efficiency and charging current of solar cells. The average charging currents of the Cu-TiO(2) and Cr-TiO(2) electrodes are 384.20 [Formula: see text] and 450.75 [Formula: see text] , respectively, compared with the TiO(2) electrode; this increment reaches values of 71.23% and 100.97%.