Abstract

With so many of our daily activities related to electricity, from telecommunication to laptops and computers, the use of electric energy has skyrocketed in today's technology-based world. Energy output must rise to meet rising energy demand. Still, as fossil fuels are running out, we must turn to more renewable energy sources, particularly solar energy, which can be harnessed and converted to electricity by solar-powered cells. The issues, however, are brought about by the sunlight's unpredictable energy output. The energy produced by solar cells should therefore be stored using energy storage technologies. This notion led to the development of the photo-supercapacitor, a device that combines a solar cell with a supercapacitor to store the energy generated by the solar cells. However, recently researchers developed light-responsive materials for supercapacitors that could be used directly as electrode materials and deposited on various transparent and conductive substrates. Such light-responsive supercapacitors could be operated directly by shining solar light without using any solar cell. A light-responsive supercapacitor's efficiency is primarily influenced by the active materials used in its electrode fabrication. The main components of high-energy conversion, which improves a light-responsive supercapacitor's performance and shelf life, are photoactive materials, counter electrodes, compatible electrolytes, and transparent substrate performances. Furthermore, light-responsive supercapacitors are cutting-edge and promising energy storage devices that can self-charge under light illumination by converting light to electrical energy and storing it for later use. They are considered a novel approach to energy issues in electrical transportation, electronic equipment, and on-chip energy storage devices. Thus, this review paper opens up an avenue for the direct utilization of photoactive nanomaterials for electrochemical energy storage and demonstrates the substantial potential for the fabrication of advanced light-responsive supercapacitors. This study also covers the fundamentals of how this exciting field works, the historical trajectory of how far it has come, and the promising prospects for its future.

Graphical Abstract