Tuning Germanane Band Gaps via Cyanoethyl Functionalization for Cutting-Edge Photoactive Cathodes: Photoenhanced...

Energy harvesting and storing by dual-functional photoenhanced (photo-E) energy storage devices are being developed to battle the current energy hassles. In this research work, our investigations on the photoinduced efficiency of germanane (Ge-H) and its functionalized analogue cyanoethyl (Ge-C₂-CN) are assessed as photocathodes in photo-E hybrid zinc-ion capacitors (ZICs). The evaluated self-powered photodetector devices made by these germanene-based samples revealed effective performances in photogenerated electrons and holes. The photo-E ZICs findings provided a photoinduced capacitance enhancement of ∼52% (for Ge-H) and ∼26% (for Ge-C₂-CN) at a scan rate of 10 mV s^-1 under 100 mW cm^-2 illumination with 435 nm wavelength. Further characterizations demonstrated that the photo-E ZIC with Ge-C₂-CN supply higher specific capacitance (∼6000 mF g^-1), energy density (∼550 mWh kg^-1), and power density (∼31,000 mW kg^-1), compared to the Ge-H. In addition, capacitance retention of photo-E ZIC with Ge-C₂-CN is ∼91% after 3000 cycles which is almost 6% greater than Ge-H. Interestingly, the photocharging voltage response in photo-E ZIC made by Ge-C₂-CN is 1000 mV, while the photocharging voltage response with Ge-H is approximately 970 mV. The observed performances in Ge-H-based photoactive cathodes highlight the pivotal role of such two-dimensional materials to be applied as single architecture in new unconventional energy storage systems. They are particularly noteworthy when compared to the other advanced photo-E supercapacitors and could even be enhanced greatly with other suitable inorganic and organic functional precursors.