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Light-enhanced Electrochemical Energy Storage of Synthetic Melanin on Conductive Glass Substrates

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  16 December 2019

Ri Xu
Affiliation:
Department of Engineering Physics, Polytechnique Montréal, C.P. 6079, Succ. Centre-ville, Montréal, QC, H3C 3A7, Canada
Abdelaziz Gouda
Affiliation:
Department of Engineering Physics, Polytechnique Montréal, C.P. 6079, Succ. Centre-ville, Montréal, QC, H3C 3A7, Canada
Maria Federica Caso
Affiliation:
Nanofaber Spin-Off at ENEA, Casaccia Research Centre, Via Anguillarese 301, Roma, 00123, Italy
Francesca Soavi
Affiliation:
Dipartimento di Chimica “Giacomo Ciamician”, Alma Mater Studiorum Università di Bologna, Via Selmi, 2, 40126Bologna, Italy
Clara Santato*
Affiliation:
Department of Engineering Physics, Polytechnique Montréal, C.P. 6079, Succ. Centre-ville, Montréal, QC, H3C 3A7, Canada
*
*Correspondence and requests for materials should be addressed to C.S. (e-mail: clara.santato@polymtl.ca)
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Abstract

Eumelanin is a redox active, quinone-based biopigment, featuring a broad band absorption in the UV-Vis region. The combination of the redox and optical properties makes eumelanin an interesting candidate to explore light-assisted storage technologies. Electrodes of melanin on indium tin oxide (ITO) current collectors were investigated for their morphological and voltammetric characteristics in aqueous electrolytes. Under solar light, we observed that the capacity and the capacitance of the melanin electrodes significantly increase with respect to the dark conditions (by 63% and 73%, respectively).

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Articles
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 2019

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