Design and Fabrication of a Precious Metal‐Free Tandem Core–Shell p + n Si/W‐Doped BiVO 4 Photoanode for Unassisted Water Splitting
Abstract
Abstract Tandem photoelectrochemical water splitting cells utilizing crystalline Si and metal oxide photoabsorbers are promising for low‐cost solar hydrogen production. This study presents a device design and a scalable fabrication scheme for a tandem heterostructure photoanode: p + n black silicon (Si)/SnO 2 interface/W‐doped bismuth vanadate (BiVO 4 )/cobalt phosphate (CoPi) catalyst. The black‐Si not only provides a substantial photovoltage of 550 mV, but it also serves as a conductive scaffold to decrease charge transport pathlengths within the W‐doped BiVO 4 shell. When coupled with cobalt phosphide (CoP) nanoparticles as hydrogen evolution catalysts, the device demonstrates spontaneous water splitting without employing any precious metals, achieving an average solar‐to‐hydrogen efficiency of 0.45% over the course of an hour at pH 7. This fabrication scheme offers the modularity to optimize individual cell components, e.g., Si nanowire dimensions and metal oxide film thickness, involving steps that are compatible with fabricating monolithic devices. This design is general in nature and can be readily adapted to novel, higher performance semiconducting materials beyond BiVO 4 as they become available, which will accelerate the process of device realization.
- Publication Date:
- Sponsoring Org.:
- USDOE
- OSTI Identifier:
- 1377948
- Resource Type:
- Publisher's Accepted Manuscript
- Journal Name:
- Advanced Energy Materials
- Additional Journal Information:
- Journal Name: Advanced Energy Materials Journal Volume: 7 Journal Issue: 22; Journal ID: ISSN 1614-6832
- Publisher:
- Wiley Blackwell (John Wiley & Sons)
- Country of Publication:
- Germany
- Language:
- English
Citation Formats
Chakthranont, Pongkarn, Hellstern, Thomas R., McEnaney, Joshua M., and Jaramillo, Thomas F. Design and Fabrication of a Precious Metal‐Free Tandem Core–Shell p + n Si/W‐Doped BiVO 4 Photoanode for Unassisted Water Splitting. Germany: N. p., 2017.
Web. doi:10.1002/aenm.201701515.
Chakthranont, Pongkarn, Hellstern, Thomas R., McEnaney, Joshua M., & Jaramillo, Thomas F. Design and Fabrication of a Precious Metal‐Free Tandem Core–Shell p + n Si/W‐Doped BiVO 4 Photoanode for Unassisted Water Splitting. Germany. https://doi.org/10.1002/aenm.201701515
Chakthranont, Pongkarn, Hellstern, Thomas R., McEnaney, Joshua M., and Jaramillo, Thomas F. Wed .
"Design and Fabrication of a Precious Metal‐Free Tandem Core–Shell p + n Si/W‐Doped BiVO 4 Photoanode for Unassisted Water Splitting". Germany. https://doi.org/10.1002/aenm.201701515.
@article{osti_1377948,
title = {Design and Fabrication of a Precious Metal‐Free Tandem Core–Shell p + n Si/W‐Doped BiVO 4 Photoanode for Unassisted Water Splitting},
author = {Chakthranont, Pongkarn and Hellstern, Thomas R. and McEnaney, Joshua M. and Jaramillo, Thomas F.},
abstractNote = {Abstract Tandem photoelectrochemical water splitting cells utilizing crystalline Si and metal oxide photoabsorbers are promising for low‐cost solar hydrogen production. This study presents a device design and a scalable fabrication scheme for a tandem heterostructure photoanode: p + n black silicon (Si)/SnO 2 interface/W‐doped bismuth vanadate (BiVO 4 )/cobalt phosphate (CoPi) catalyst. The black‐Si not only provides a substantial photovoltage of 550 mV, but it also serves as a conductive scaffold to decrease charge transport pathlengths within the W‐doped BiVO 4 shell. When coupled with cobalt phosphide (CoP) nanoparticles as hydrogen evolution catalysts, the device demonstrates spontaneous water splitting without employing any precious metals, achieving an average solar‐to‐hydrogen efficiency of 0.45% over the course of an hour at pH 7. This fabrication scheme offers the modularity to optimize individual cell components, e.g., Si nanowire dimensions and metal oxide film thickness, involving steps that are compatible with fabricating monolithic devices. This design is general in nature and can be readily adapted to novel, higher performance semiconducting materials beyond BiVO 4 as they become available, which will accelerate the process of device realization.},
doi = {10.1002/aenm.201701515},
journal = {Advanced Energy Materials},
number = 22,
volume = 7,
place = {Germany},
year = {Wed Aug 30 00:00:00 EDT 2017},
month = {Wed Aug 30 00:00:00 EDT 2017}
}
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