Photoelectrochemical cells for solar hydrogen production: Challenges and opportunities

Abstract

As the Holy Grail to a carbon-free hydrogen economy, photoelectrochemical (PEC) water splitting offers a promising path for sustainable production of hydrogen fuel from solar energy. Even though much progress has been made over the past decade, the effectiveness and robustness of PEC cells are still far from a mature phase that would allow for widespread deployment. This perspective discusses the key challenges facing the current level of PEC development and proposes experimental approaches and strategies that can be adopted to address the issues. Focuses are mainly placed on the employment of in situ and operando spectroscopic measurements, the introduction of alternative, high value-added oxidation reactions, and the creation of near infrared-responsive photoelectrodes. A brief outlook that may assist the future advancement of PEC technology is also presented.

Cs2NaGaBr6: a new lead-free and direct band gap halide double perovskite

“…Dual halides of perovskite have stimulated great attention. [3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15] The double-perovskite halides are a large family of quaternary halides. The vast geometrical range of these materials poses opportunities to nd new solar and optoelectronic materials; however, it also raises challenges in testing a large number of compounds to classify the most promising with ideal energetic, structural and electronic properties for solar cell applications.…”

Plasmonic Ag-Decorated Few-Layer MoS2 Nanosheets Vertically Grown on Graphene for Efficient Photoelectrochemical Water Splitting

“…Photoelectrochemistry (PEC) and photocatalysis of semiconductors have been extensively studied as effective approaches for energy conversion, such as hydrogen gas production by water splitting, and for environmental applications, such as air/water purification, water disinfection, and hazardous waste remediation [1][2][3][4][5][6][7]. Recently, twodimensional (2D) layered MoS 2 has attracted considerable research attention as a promising semiconductor photocatalyst because of its excellent catalytic activity, high chemical stability, eco-friendliness, and abundance in nature [2][3][4].…”

Green Synthetic Fuels: Renewable Routes for the Conversion of Non-Fossil Feedstocks into Gaseous Fuels and Their End Uses

“…In Figure 12a is displayed the theoretical maximum efficiency for a variety of semiconductor materials, the upper limit for a single material reaches 16% when the bandgap is near 2.0 eV [309]. A tandem photoelectrochemical device could reach the maximum theoretical efficiency of 29.7% with a bandgap of 1.60 eV and 0.95 eV for the photoanode and the photocathode, respectively [310]. Nowadays, the highest STH efficiency reported is 19.3% for a multi-junction GaAs/GaInAs/AlInP photocathode device, whose maximum theoretical STH efficiency is 22.8% [311].…”