Copper oxide photocathodes prepared by a solution based process

Chiang, Chia‐Ying; Shin, Young-Joo; Aroh, Kosi C.; Ehrman, Sheryl H.

doi:10.1016/j.ijhydene.2012.02.049

Cited by 95 publications

(74 citation statements)

References 18 publications

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“…Previous report on CuO nanoparticles has shown the possibility of bandgap narrowing as a result of heat-treatment. 64 However, the optical analysis of our nanocrystalline CuO thin film showed that the bandgap shifts merely from 1.57 to 1.47 eV by the process of annealing. The estimated span of built in electric field by the aforementioned consideration in nanocrystalline CuO film having N A = 10 16 cm −3 is 1.9 μm.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 74%

Highly Photoactive and Photo-Stable Spray Pyrolyzed Tenorite CuO Thin Films for Photoelectrochemical Energy Conversion

Patel

Pati

Marathey

et al. 2016

J. Electrochem. Soc.

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Tenorite CuO thin films have been synthesized via spray pyrolysis of aqueous copper(II) chloride solution followed by heat-treatment, exhibited a photocurrent density of 24 mA cm −2 at 0.25 V vs. RHE under AM 1.5G solar irradiation in alkaline electrolyte. This large photocurrent density has been attributed to a drift assisted transport of photo-generated electrons across the semiconductor/electrolyte interface in the annealed films. The tendency of photo-corrosion from the surface of CuO has been reduced substantially without any extra protective layer, simply by adding K 3 Fe(CN) 6 in the electrolyte, which acts as a sacrificial excess-electron scavenging agent. The fabricated electrode exhibited a positive onset potential at 0.25 V vs. RHE even after the electrolyte modification and a stable photocurrent density of more than 40% has been retained after 20 minutes of continuous illumination. The processed photocathode showed a solar to chemical conversion efficiency of 7.85% and 21.5% with and without using an electron scavenging agent, respectively. It holds the promise of using this photocathode in PEC energy conversion, photocatalysis and solar water splitting.In the exploration of terrestrially employable carbon-free energy sources, materials play a central role in the generation and storage of electrical as well as chemical energies. 1,2 Semiconducting materials are especially important to harvest the solar energy due to their bandgap energies matching to that of the visible photons. Photovoltaic (PV) and photoelectrochemical (PEC) methods are the two solar energy conversion modes those utilize semiconductor materials. In order to apply semiconductors in PEC applications, three important aspects must be satisfied: first, capability of providing large photocurrent density; second, a long term stability; and third, the scalability. 3 Several semiconductors, such as have been explored in the PEC applications with majority as catalysts for water splitting. The hunt for novel structure and materials design thus continues to set off the above requirements. Oxides of copper (CuO and Cu 2 O) have recently drawn special attention due to their relative abundance on the earth crust. Majority of the recently reported investigations are focused on Cu 2 O. [25][26][27][28][29][30][31][32] Due to the chemical instability and poor electron transfer, its nano-composites with other oxides or metal catalysts have been attempted. [33][34][35] On the other hand, CuO is chemically more stable than Cu 2 O but there are only few studies on the PEC response of CuO have been reported so far. 36 Among various oxides of copper (viz. Cu 2 O, CuO and Cu 4 O 3 ), tenorite CuO is a chemically stable p-type semiconductors having an indirect bandgap in the range of 1.3-1.7 eV. 37-42 This property makes CuO a promising candidate for solar to chemical energy conversion with maximum possible theoretical photocurrent density in the range of 22-35 mAcm −2 under standard AM 1.5G solar irradiance corresponding to its high and low bandgap values, ...

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 74%

Highly Photoactive and Photo-Stable Spray Pyrolyzed Tenorite CuO Thin Films for Photoelectrochemical Energy Conversion

Patel

Pati

Marathey

et al. 2016

J. Electrochem. Soc.

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“…The preparation conditions that were applied in the spinning disk reactor were a rotational speed of 4000 rpm, CuSO 4 and Na 2 CO 3 concentrations of 0.10 M, and a flow rate of 1.5 L/min. The high rate of production herein was achieved because the process was carried out in continuous mode -unlike the precipitation method in batch mode [4,5,7,8]. Additionally, the rate of production of CuO nanoparticle was increased by increasing the flow rate.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…These nanostructures have been widely examined owing to their promising applications in various fields [1]. Among these nanostructures, CuO nanoparticles have emerged as potentially useful in various technological applications such as nanofluids [2], solar cells [3], hydrogen generation [4,5], gas sensing [6,7], catalysis [7,8], photocatalytic degradation [9], and antimicrobial applications [10].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Some recently reported methods for preparing CuO nanoparticles include the hydrothermal method [3,11], the precipitation method [4,5,7,8], the sol-gel method [12], the flame spray pyrolysis method [13], and solution combustion method [9]. Of these schemes, the precipitation method is particularly simple, and has attracted considerable interest from industry owing to its low required energy and temperature, and cost-effectiveness in large-scale production with high yield [14][15][16][17].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Continuous production of CuO nanoparticles in a rotating packed bed

Lin

2016

Ceramics International

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“…[1,10] From the results, the conduction-band-edge position was calculated as À1.48 V versus RHE. [8,[31][32][33] In comparison to other p-type semiconductors reported for CO 2 reduction, the conduction-band edge of ZnTe is located at the most negative energy, at À1.63 V (À1.48 V, experimental), followed by those of ZnSe and GaP at À1.34 and À1.14 V, respectively. [6,7] The obtained flat-band potential could have been affected by many factors, including the surface composition, the termination and concentration of trap states, and coupling with ZnO.…”

Section: Angewandte Chemiementioning

confidence: 87%

Aqueous‐Solution Route to Zinc Telluride Films for Application to CO₂ Reduction

et al. 2014

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As a photocathode for CO 2 reduction, zinc-blende zinc telluride (ZnTe) was directly formed on a Zn/ZnO nanowire substrate by a simple dissolution-recrystallization mechanism without any surfactant. With the most negative conduction-band edge among p-type semiconductors, this new photocatalyst showed efficient and stable CO formation in photoelectrochemical CO 2 reduction at À0.2-À0.7 V versus RHE without a sacrificial reagent.Supporting information for this article, including details of the synthesis of ZnO nanowire arrays, the synthesis of the ZnO/ZnTe structure, and the photoelectrochemical reduction of CO 2 , analysis of the products of CO 2 reduction, and characterization of the materials investigated, is available on the WWW under http://dx.

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Copper oxide photocathodes prepared by a solution based process

Cited by 95 publications

References 18 publications

Highly Photoactive and Photo-Stable Spray Pyrolyzed Tenorite CuO Thin Films for Photoelectrochemical Energy Conversion

Highly Photoactive and Photo-Stable Spray Pyrolyzed Tenorite CuO Thin Films for Photoelectrochemical Energy Conversion

Continuous production of CuO nanoparticles in a rotating packed bed

Aqueous‐Solution Route to Zinc Telluride Films for Application to CO₂ Reduction

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Copper oxide photocathodes prepared by a solution based process

Cited by 95 publications

References 18 publications

Highly Photoactive and Photo-Stable Spray Pyrolyzed Tenorite CuO Thin Films for Photoelectrochemical Energy Conversion

Highly Photoactive and Photo-Stable Spray Pyrolyzed Tenorite CuO Thin Films for Photoelectrochemical Energy Conversion

Continuous production of CuO nanoparticles in a rotating packed bed

Aqueous‐Solution Route to Zinc Telluride Films for Application to CO2 Reduction

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Aqueous‐Solution Route to Zinc Telluride Films for Application to CO₂ Reduction