Mechanical Engineering Department
Seminar Series
Rechargeable K-Oxygen and Solar
Batteries: From Cell Fundamentals to
System Consideration
Yiying Wu
Professor of Chemistry
The Ohio State University
Tuesday, March 17, 2015
4:00 – 5:00 pm
Room 1303 EECS
Abstract:
Overcoming the large overpotentials in the multi-electron oxygen reduction/evolution reactions has
been the grand challenge in the development of fuel cells and metal-air batteries. In my talk, I will first
present a K-O2 battery that uses K+ ions to capture superoxide O2- to form the thermodynamically
stable KO2 product. This allows for the battery to operate through the facile one-electron redox process
and eliminates the use of any catalysts, making the K-O2 battery a promising low-cost, high-energy
option. I will also discuss the cell chemistry, the system consideration and its potential for
transportation electrification and grid storage. In the second part of my talk, I will present a hybrid
device named “solar metal-air battery”, which possesses the dual functions of solar energy harvesting
and storage. The crucial feature allowing this solar cell to store energy is that it incorporates a redox
couple that couples the photoelectrode with the air electrode. Within the device, light and oxygen
enable different aspects of the chemical reactions that charge the battery with a special process
allowing charge transfer between photoelectrode and battery electrode. The solar battery provides a
promising approach of making renewable energy more affordable.
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Bio:
Yiying Wu received his B.S. in chemical physics from the University of Science and Technology of
China in 1998, and his Ph.D. in chemistry from the University of California at Berkeley in 2003 with
Prof. Peidong Yang. He then did his postdoctoral research with Prof. Galen D. Stucky at the University
of California, Santa Barbara, and joined the chemistry faculty at The Ohio State University in the
summer of 2005. He was promoted to associate professor with tenure in 2011 and to full professor in
2014. His group focuses on materials chemistry for energy conversion and storage.