Dye-sensitized photoelectrochemical water oxidation through a buried junction

Xu, Pengtao; Huang, Tian; Huang, Jianbin; Yan, Yun; Mallouk, Thomas E.

doi:10.1073/pnas.1804728115

Dye-sensitized photoelectrochemical water oxidation through a buried junction

Journal Article · Mon Jun 18 00:00:00 EDT 2018 · Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1804728115· OSTI ID:1454669

; Huang, Tian; Huang, Jianbin; Yan, Yun; Mallouk, Thomas E.

Water oxidation has long been a challenge in artificial photosynthetic devices that convert solar energy into fuels. Water-splitting dye-sensitized photoelectrochemical cells (WS-DSPECs) provide a modular approach for integrating light-harvesting molecules with water-oxidation catalysts on metal-oxide electrodes. Despite recent progress in improving the efficiency of these devices by introducing good molecular water-oxidation catalysts, WS-DSPECs have poor stability, owing to the oxidation of molecular components at very positive electrode potentials. Here we demonstrate that a solid-state dye-sensitized solar cell (ss-DSSC) can be used as a buried junction for stable photoelectrochemical water splitting. A thin protecting layer of TiO₂grown by atomic layer deposition (ALD) stabilizes the operation of the photoanode in aqueous solution, although as a solar cell there is a performance loss due to increased series resistance after the coating. With an electrodeposited iridium oxide layer, a photocurrent density of 1.43 mA cm⁻²was observed in 0.1 M pH 6.7 phosphate solution at 1.23 V versus reversible hydrogen electrode, with good stability over 1 h. We measured an incident photon-to-current efficiency of 22% at 540 nm and a Faradaic efficiency of 43% for oxygen evolution. While the potential profile of the catalyst layer suggested otherwise, we confirmed the formation of a buried junction in the as-prepared photoelectrode. The buried junction design of ss-DSSs adds to our understanding of semiconductor–electrocatalyst junction behaviors in the presence of a poor semiconducting material.

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Research Organization:: Pennsylvania State Univ., University Park, PA (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: China Scholarship Council; USDOE Office of Science (SC); USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES) (SC-22). Chemical Sciences, Geosciences & Biosciences Division

Grant/Contract Number:: FG02-07ER15911

OSTI ID:: 1454669

Alternate ID(s):: OSTI ID: 1540295

Journal Information:: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, Journal Name: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America Journal Issue: 27 Vol. 115; ISSN 0027-8424

Publisher:: National Academy of Sciences, Washington, DC (United States)Copyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

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Dye-sensitized photoelectrochemical water oxidation through a buried junction

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