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Title: Molybdenum Disulfide Catalytic Coatings via Atomic Layer Deposition for Solar Hydrogen Production from Copper Gallium Diselenide Photocathodes

Journal Article · · ACS Applied Energy Materials
 [1]; ORCiD logo [1];  [2];  [3];  [3];  [4]; ORCiD logo [5];  [6];  [3];  [4]; ORCiD logo [7]
  1. Stanford Univ., CA (United States)
  2. Univ. of Nevada, Las Vegas, NV (United States)
  3. Univ. of Hawaii, Honolulu, HI (United States)
  4. Univ. of Nevada, Las Vegas, NV (United States); Karlsruhe Inst. of Technology (KIT) (Germany)
  5. Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)
  6. Univ. of Nevada, Las Vegas, NV (United States); Karlsruhe Inst. of Technology (KIT) (Germany); Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)
  7. Stanford Univ., CA (United States); SLAC National Accelerator Lab., Menlo Park, CA (United States)

We demonstrate that applying atomic layer deposition-derived molybdenum disulfide (MoS2) catalytic coatings on copper gallium diselenide (CGSe) thin film absorbers can lead to efficient wide band gap photocathodes for photoelectrochemical hydrogen production. We have prepared a device that is free of precious metals, employing a CGSe absorber and a cadmium sulfide (CdS) buffer layer, a titanium dioxide (TiO2) interfacial layer, and a MoS2 catalytic layer. The resulting MoS2/TiO2/CdS/CGSe photocathode exhibits a photocurrent onset of +0.53 V vs RHE and a saturation photocurrent density of -10 mA cm-2, with stable operation for >5 h in acidic electrolyte. Spectroscopic investigations of this device architecture indicate that overlayer degradation occurs inhomogeneously, ultimately exposing the underlying CGSe absorber.

Research Organization:
Univ. of Hawaii, Honolulu, HI (United States); Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES). Chemical Sciences, Geosciences, and Biosciences Division; USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), Sustainable Transportation Office. Hydrogen Fuel Cell Technologies Office; National Science Foundation (NSF)
Grant/Contract Number:
EE0006670; AC02-05CH11231; AC02-76SF00515; ECCS-1542152
OSTI ID:
1570459
Alternate ID(s):
OSTI ID: 1594909
Journal Information:
ACS Applied Energy Materials, Vol. 2, Issue 2; ISSN 2574-0962
Publisher:
American Chemical Society (ACS)Copyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Citation Metrics:
Cited by: 15 works
Citation information provided by
Web of Science

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Cited By (2)

Efficiency and stability of narrow-gap semiconductor-based photoelectrodes journal January 2019
Pulsed Laser Deposition of Nanostructured MoS3/np-Mo//WO3−y Hybrid Catalyst for Enhanced (Photo) Electrochemical Hydrogen Evolution journal September 2019