Electric cars

Researchers from Korea's Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology (UNIST) developed a new perovskite-based catalyst that could enhance the charge-discharge performance of Metal-Air Batteries (MABs). MABs are very interesting as they are lightweight, affordable and has a large storage capacity, but current metal-based catalysts are too expensive for wide commercial adoption.

The new catalyst is made from a very thin layer of metal oxide film that is deposited on a surface of perovskite catalysts. This new so-called "composite catalyst" combines the two types of catalysts each with its own excellent performance for charging (metal) and discharging (the perovskite catalyst).

Scientists at Case Western Reserve University that have been experimenting with the use of small perovskite solar cells to help recharge the batteries of electric cars state that they have found a system that performs better than any other. They wired four perovskite solar cells in series to directly photo-charge lithium batteries with 7.8% efficiency.

The researchers say that they have found the right match between the solar cell and battery. The coupling appears to have outperformed all other reported pairings of photo-charging components and compatible batteries or supercapacitors. They have created cells with three layers converted into a single perovskite film and then wired four of the 1 mm square cells in series, achieving a solar-to-electric power conversion efficiency of 12.65%. When hooked up to charge small coin-sized lithium-ion batteries, the team achieved a conversion and storage efficiency of 7.8% and maintained it over a number of cycles.