Silicon based photoelectrodes for photoelectrochemical water splitting

Fan, Ronglei; Mi, Zetian; Shen, Mingrong

doi:10.1364/oe.27.000a51

Cited by 75 publications

(73 citation statements)

References 143 publications

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“…An efficiency analysis of these dual semiconductor systems has demonstrated that the optimal bandgap is ≈1–1.4 eV for the bottom absorber and ≈1.7–2.1 eV for the top absorber 1–3. Among semiconductors that exhibit an adequate bandgap, silicon (bandgap of 1.1 eV) has emerged as a promising choice due to its earth‐abundance and wide‐spread use in the electronics and solar cell industry 4–8. A common strategy to obtain high photovoltage with Si has been to fabricate traditional p–n Si homojunctions 9–13.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…

and solar cell industry. [4][5][6][7][8] A common strategy to obtain high photovoltage with Si has been to fabricate traditional p-n Si homojunctions. [9][10][11][12][13] Furthermore, significant effort has been focused on improving catalytic activity [14][15][16][17][18] of electrocatalysts attached to Si and increasing solar utilization by nanostructuring Si and/or introducing plasmonic materials.

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confidence: 99%

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Quantifying Losses and Assessing the Photovoltage Limits in Metal–Insulator–Semiconductor Water Splitting Systems

Hemmerling

Quinn

Linic

2020

Advanced Energy Materials

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Metal–insulator–semiconductor (MIS) photo‐electrocatalysts offer a pathway to stable and efficient solar water splitting. Initially motivated as a strategy to protect the underlying semiconductor photoabsorber from harsh operating conditions, the thickness of the insulator layer in MIS systems has recently been shown to be a critical design parameter which can be tuned to optimize the photovoltage. This study analyzes the underlying mechanism by which the thickness of the insulator layer impacts the performance of MIS photo‐electrocatalysts. A concrete example of an Ir/HfO2/n‐Si MIS system is investigated for the oxygen evolution reaction. The results of combined experiments and modeling suggest that the insulator thickness affects the photovoltage i) favorably by controlling the flux of charge carriers from the semiconductor to the metal electrocatalyst and ii) adversely by introducing nonidealities such as surface defect states which limit the generated photovoltage. It is important to quantify these different mechanisms and suggest avenues for addressing these nonidealities to enable the rational design of MIS systems that can approach the fundamental photovoltage limits. The analysis described in this contribution as well as the strategy toward optimizing the photovoltage are generalizable to other MIS systems.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…

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mentioning

confidence: 99%

Quantifying Losses and Assessing the Photovoltage Limits in Metal–Insulator–Semiconductor Water Splitting Systems

Hemmerling

Quinn

Linic

2020

Advanced Energy Materials

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“…As demonstrated previously, unprecedentedly high charge separation and transport efficiency could be realized through manipulating the interfacial energy levels among some Si heterojunction photoanodes. Unfortunately, their stability remains a problem . And therefore, great efforts are still urgently needed to simultaneously provide the Si photoanode with high efficiency and long‐term durability for water oxidation, in order to enable its practical application.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Unfortunately, their stability remains a problem. [5,[13][14][15][16][17][18] And therefore, great efforts are still urgently needed to simultaneously provide the Si photoanode with high efficiency and long-term durability for water oxidation, in order to enable its practical application. This paper describes the design and fabrication of a highquality n-Si/SiO x /Al 2 O 3 /Ni/NiO x /NiOOH junction photoanode with high efficiency and stability for PEC water oxidation in alkaline solutions.…”

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confidence: 99%

Multifunctional Nickel Film Protected n‐Type Silicon Photoanode with High Photovoltage for Efficient and Stable Oxygen Evolution Reaction

Luo

Liu

et al. 2019

Small Methods

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n‐type silicon (n‐Si) is a promising photoanode candidate for photoelectrochemical (PEC) water splitting. However, severe chemical corrosion, sluggish reaction kinetics as well as extremely low photovoltage are critical limitations hampering its PEC performance. This paper describes the introduction of a metallic nickel (Ni) thin film as a multifunctional layer that 1) forms a Schottky junction to extract a high photovoltage, 2) provides an electrocatalytic surface for oxygen evolution reaction (OER), and 3) protects Si against corrosion. Upon introducing a high‐quality Al2O3 tunneling layer to optimize the Si/Ni interface and loading nickel oxide hydroxide to further accelerate the OER, this metal–insulator–semiconductor junction photoanode achieves a record high photovoltage of 640 mV and energy conversion efficiency of 3% in n‐Si based photoanodes without np or np+ buried homojunction, yielding an air mass 1.5G photocurrent density of ≈28 mA cm−2 at 1.23 V (vs reversible hydrogen electrode) for oxygen evolution in alkaline solution with a stability of more than 80 h.

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“…The effective and low-cost production of this gas energy source without spending natural hydrocarbon raw materials largely determines the successful development and implementation of alternative (green/hydrogen) energetics. A significant reduction in energy consumption during the hydrogen evolution by photo-activated electrolysis is dependent on the success of the development and creation of new efficient non-precious electrocatalysts and photo-electrocatalysts, the manufacture of which does not use expensive materials (platinum group metals) [1,2,3,4,5,6]. Recently, a motivated interest has been formed in nanostructured and hybrid materials containing chalcogenides, phosphides, nitrides, carbides, or oxides of transitional metals [7,8,9,10,11,12].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Pulsed Laser Deposition of Nanostructured MoS3/np-Mo//WO3−y Hybrid Catalyst for Enhanced (Photo) Electrochemical Hydrogen Evolution

et al. 2019

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Pulsed laser ablation of MoS2 and WO3 targets at appropriate pressures of background gas (Ar, air) were used for the preparation of new hybrid nanostructured catalytic films for hydrogen production in an acid solution. The films consisted of a nanostructured WO3−y underlayer that was covered with composite MoS3/np-Mo nanocatalyst. The use of dry air with pressures of 40 and 80 Pa allowed the formation of porous WO3−y films with cauliflower- and web-like morphology, respectively. The ablation of the MoS2 target in Ar gas at a pressure of 16 Pa resulted in the formation of amorphous MoS3 films and spherical Mo nanoparticles. The hybrid MoS3/np-Mo//WO3−y films deposited on transparent conducting substrates possessed the enhanced (photo)electrocatalytic performance in comparison with that of any pristine one (MoS3/np-Mo or WO3−y films) with the same loading. Modeling by the kinetic Monte Carlo method indicated that the change in morphology of the deposited WO3−y films could be caused by the transition of ballistic deposition to diffusion limited aggregation of structural units (atoms/clusters) under background gas pressure growth. The factors and mechanisms contributing to the enhancement of the electrocatalytic activity of hybrid nanostructured films and facilitating the effective photo-activation of hydrogen evolution in these films are considered.

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Silicon based photoelectrodes for photoelectrochemical water splitting

Cited by 75 publications

References 143 publications

Quantifying Losses and Assessing the Photovoltage Limits in Metal–Insulator–Semiconductor Water Splitting Systems

Quantifying Losses and Assessing the Photovoltage Limits in Metal–Insulator–Semiconductor Water Splitting Systems

Multifunctional Nickel Film Protected n‐Type Silicon Photoanode with High Photovoltage for Efficient and Stable Oxygen Evolution Reaction

Pulsed Laser Deposition of Nanostructured MoS3/np-Mo//WO3−y Hybrid Catalyst for Enhanced (Photo) Electrochemical Hydrogen Evolution

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