High Efficiency Si Photocathode Protected by Multifunctional GaN Nanostructures
Abstract
Photoelectrochemical water splitting is a clean and environmentally friendly method for solar hydrogen generation. Its practical application, however, has been limited by the poor stability of semiconductor photoelectrodes. In this work, we demonstrate the use of GaN nanostructures as a multifunctional protection layer for an otherwise unstable, low-performance photocathode. The direct integration of GaN nanostructures on n+-p Si wafer not only protects Si surface from corrosion but also significantly reduces the charge carrier transfer resistance at the semiconductor/liquid junction, leading to long-term stability (>100 h) at a large current density (>35 mA/cm2) under 1 sun illumination. The measured applied bias photon-to-current efficiency of 10.5% is among the highest values ever reported for a Si photocathode. Here given that both Si and GaN are already widely produced in industry, our studies offer a viable path for achieving high-efficiency and highly stable semiconductor photoelectrodes for solar water splitting with proven manufacturability and scalability.
- Authors:
-
[2];
[3];
[4];
[3];
[4]
- Univ. of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI (United States); McGill Univ., Montreal, QC (Canada)
- National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)
- McMaster Univ., Hamilton, ON (Canada)
- Univ. of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI (United States)
- Publication Date:
- Research Org.:
- National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)
- Sponsoring Org.:
- USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), Sustainable Transportation Office. Hydrogen Fuel Cell Technologies Office
- OSTI Identifier:
- 1476252
- Report Number(s):
- NREL/JA-5K00-72535
Journal ID: ISSN 1530-6984
- Grant/Contract Number:
- AC36-08GO28308
- Resource Type:
- Accepted Manuscript
- Journal Name:
- Nano Letters
- Additional Journal Information:
- Journal Volume: 18; Journal Issue: 10; Journal ID: ISSN 1530-6984
- Publisher:
- American Chemical Society
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
- Subject:
- 36 MATERIALS SCIENCE; 77 NANOSCIENCE AND NANOTECHNOLOGY; gallium nitride; hydrogen; nanowire; photocathode; silicon; solar fuel; water splitting
Citation Formats
Vanka, Srinivas, Arca, Elisabetta, Cheng, Shaobo, Sun, Kai, Botton, Gianluigi A., Teeter, Glenn R., and Mi, Zetian. High Efficiency Si Photocathode Protected by Multifunctional GaN Nanostructures. United States: N. p., 2018.
Web. doi:10.1021/acs.nanolett.8b03087.
Vanka, Srinivas, Arca, Elisabetta, Cheng, Shaobo, Sun, Kai, Botton, Gianluigi A., Teeter, Glenn R., & Mi, Zetian. High Efficiency Si Photocathode Protected by Multifunctional GaN Nanostructures. United States. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.nanolett.8b03087
Vanka, Srinivas, Arca, Elisabetta, Cheng, Shaobo, Sun, Kai, Botton, Gianluigi A., Teeter, Glenn R., and Mi, Zetian. Fri .
"High Efficiency Si Photocathode Protected by Multifunctional GaN Nanostructures". United States. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.nanolett.8b03087. https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1476252.
@article{osti_1476252,
title = {High Efficiency Si Photocathode Protected by Multifunctional GaN Nanostructures},
author = {Vanka, Srinivas and Arca, Elisabetta and Cheng, Shaobo and Sun, Kai and Botton, Gianluigi A. and Teeter, Glenn R. and Mi, Zetian},
abstractNote = {Photoelectrochemical water splitting is a clean and environmentally friendly method for solar hydrogen generation. Its practical application, however, has been limited by the poor stability of semiconductor photoelectrodes. In this work, we demonstrate the use of GaN nanostructures as a multifunctional protection layer for an otherwise unstable, low-performance photocathode. The direct integration of GaN nanostructures on n+-p Si wafer not only protects Si surface from corrosion but also significantly reduces the charge carrier transfer resistance at the semiconductor/liquid junction, leading to long-term stability (>100 h) at a large current density (>35 mA/cm2) under 1 sun illumination. The measured applied bias photon-to-current efficiency of 10.5% is among the highest values ever reported for a Si photocathode. Here given that both Si and GaN are already widely produced in industry, our studies offer a viable path for achieving high-efficiency and highly stable semiconductor photoelectrodes for solar water splitting with proven manufacturability and scalability.},
doi = {10.1021/acs.nanolett.8b03087},
journal = {Nano Letters},
number = 10,
volume = 18,
place = {United States},
year = {Fri Sep 14 00:00:00 EDT 2018},
month = {Fri Sep 14 00:00:00 EDT 2018}
}
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