Liquid Metal-CO2 Battery Bridged Intermittent Energy Conversion and O2 Production in the Martian Atmosphere

Liquidmetal-CO2 battery bridged intermittentenergy conversion and O-2 and CO production in the Martianatmosphere. Oxygen and fuels are requisites for outer space exploration.Herein,we use a liquid Na-Sn cathode and a Ni-based inert anode toconvert CO2 into Na-Sn and oxygen in molten Na2CO3-NaCl by electrolysis, aiming to produceoxygen and store solar energy in liquid Na-Sn when the sunshines. In the same Na2CO3-NaCl electrolyte,the liquid Na-Sn serves as a negative electrode coupled witha porous FeNi positive electrode that allows the reduction of CO2 to CO in a primary cell, converting chemical energy storedin Na-Sn into electricity and CO that is a valuable fuel whenthe sun does not shine. This system has an overall energy efficiencyof 51.0% at 100 mA cm(-2). Therefore, the molten carbonateelectrolysis device equipped with a liquid metal electrode could beapplied for producing O-2 and storing solar energy in energeticchemicals (e.g., Na-Sn, CO), which could be applied for outerspace exploration such as Mars.