First-principles thermodynamic screening approach to photo-catalytic water splitting with co-catalysts
- Department Chemie, Technische Universität München, Lichtenbergstr. 4, D-85747 Garching (Germany)
We adapt the computational hydrogen electrode approach to explicitly account for photo-generated charges and use it to computationally screen for viable catalyst/co-catalyst combinations for photo-catalytic water splitting. The hole energy necessary to thermodynamically drive the reaction is employed as descriptor for the screening process. Using this protocol and hybrid-level density-functional theory, we show that water oxidation on bare TiO{sub 2} surfaces is thermodynamically more complex than previously thought. This motivates a screening for suitable co-catalysts for this half-reaction, which we carry out for Au particles down to the non-scalable size regime. We find that almost all small Au clusters studied are better suited for water photo-oxidation than an extended Au(111) surface or bare TiO{sub 2} facets.
- OSTI ID:
- 22220497
- Journal Information:
- Journal of Chemical Physics, Vol. 139, Issue 4; Other Information: (c) 2013 AIP Publishing LLC; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 0021-9606
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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