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Corresponding Author

Shao-jun DONG(dongsj@ciac.ac.cn)

Abstract

The exploitation and utilization of fossil fuels have led to serious energy crisis and environmental pollution. In this case, the development of renewable energy is an alternative to traditional energy consumption. Fuel cells (FCs) can convert chemical energy into electricity via the electrochemical reaction, which is green and environment-friendly. Photo-assisted FCs integrate photo-responsive components into FCs, leading to the dual routes of energy conversion including light energy to electricity and chemical energy to electricity, and thus, improving the energy utilization efficiency. The development of photo-assisted FCs is significant for practical application and promising to solve the coming energy crisis. In this review, we give a brief introduction on photo-assisted FCs and highlight our recent achievements in this field. Meanwhile, the limitations and future perspectives of the systems are also presented. We hope that it will offer an easy to grasp but integral view of the photo-assisted FCs.

Graphical Abstract

Publication Date

2016-06-28

Online Available Date

2016-03-04

Revised Date

2016-02-28

Received Date

2015-12-28

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