Electrochemical Reduction Properties of Extended Space Charge InGaP and GaP Epitaxial Layers

Parameshwaran, Vijay; Xu, Xiaoqing; Clemens, Bruce

doi:10.1149/2.1341608jes

Title: Electrochemical Reduction Properties of Extended Space Charge InGaP and GaP Epitaxial Layers

Journal Article · Fri Jun 17 00:00:00 EDT 2016 · Journal of the Electrochemical Society

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1149/2.1341608jes· OSTI ID:1370006

Parameshwaran, Vijay ^[1]; Xu, Xiaoqing ^[1]; Clemens, Bruce ^[1]

Stanford Univ., Stanford, CA (United States)

Two lattice-matched epitaxial III-V phosphide films of thicknesses between 400 and 500 nm are grown by metal-organic chemical vapor deposition: InGaP on GaAs and GaP on Si. These structures are designed as photocathodes for solar-driven chemical reduction processes such as the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) and CO₂ reduction into higher-order hydrocarbons. By using p⁺ substrates and undoped epitaxial layers, an extended space-charge active region is achieved in the electrode with a design analogous to a p-i-n solar cell. When in contact with the methyl viologen MV^{+ / + +} redox couple, the InGaP/GaAs and GaP/Si cathodes generate a photovoltage of 388 mV and 274 mV, respectively, under 1 sun illumination. Incident photon-to-current efficiency (IPCE) measurements confirm that the undoped active layers are exclusively performing light absorption and minority carrier diffusion-based charge transfer of high-energy photons. This shows that performance can be significantly boosted with lower-doped substrates. The InGaP/GaAs and GaP/Si electrodes are shown to drive the HER at saturation photocurrent densities of 9.05 mA/cm² and 2.34 mA/cm², respectively, under 1 sun illumination without a co-catalyst and under a large reduction bias. As a result, thicker films did not show a corresponding increased performance, and can be explained through understanding of crystalline defects and the electrostatics of the junctions.

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Research Organization:: Energy Frontier Research Centers (EFRC) (United States). Center on Nanostructuring for Efficient Energy Conversion (CNEEC)

Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES)

Grant/Contract Number:: SC0001060

OSTI ID:: 1370006

Journal Information:: Journal of the Electrochemical Society, Vol. 163, Issue 8; Related Information: CNEEC partners with Stanford University (lead); Carnegie Institution at Stanford; Technical University of Denmark; ISSN 0013-4651

Publisher:: The Electrochemical SocietyCopyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

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Cited by: 3 works

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