570 mV photovoltage, stabilized n-Si/CoOx heterojunction photoanodes fabricated using atomic layer deposition

Zhou, Xinghao; Liu, Rui; Sun, Ke; Papadantonakis, Kimberly M.; Brunschwig, Bruce S.; Lewis, Nathan S.

doi:10.1039/c5ee03655k

Title: 570 mV photovoltage, stabilized n-Si/CoO_x heterojunction photoanodes fabricated using atomic layer deposition

Journal Article · Fri Jan 08 00:00:00 EST 2016 · Energy & Environmental Science

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1039/c5ee03655k· OSTI ID:1436118

Zhou, Xinghao ^[1]; Liu, Rui ^[2]; Sun, Ke ^[3]; Papadantonakis, Kimberly M. ^[3]; Brunschwig, Bruce S. ^[4]; Lewis, Nathan S. ^[5]

California Inst. of Technology (CalTech), Pasadena, CA (United States). Joint Center for Artificial Photosynthesis (JCAP); California Inst. of Technology (CalTech), Pasadena, CA (United States). Division of Engineering and Applied Science, Dept. of Applied Physics and Materials Science
California Inst. of Technology (CalTech), Pasadena, CA (United States). Joint Center for Artificial Photosynthesis (JCAP)
California Inst. of Technology (CalTech), Pasadena, CA (United States). Joint Center for Artificial Photosynthesis (JCAP); California Inst. of Technology (CalTech), Pasadena, CA (United States). Division of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering
California Inst. of Technology (CalTech), Pasadena, CA (United States). Joint Center for Artificial Photosynthesis (JCAP); California Inst. of Technology (CalTech), Pasadena, CA (United States). Kavli Nanoscience Inst.
California Inst. of Technology (CalTech), Pasadena, CA (United States). Joint Center for Artificial Photosynthesis (JCAP); California Inst. of Technology (CalTech), Pasadena, CA (United States). Division of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering; California Inst. of Technology (CalTech), Pasadena, CA (United States). Beckman Inst. and Molecular Materials Research Center; California Inst. of Technology (CalTech), Pasadena, CA (United States). Kavli Nanoscience Inst.

Heterojunction photoanodes, consisting of n-type crystalline Si(100) substrates coated with a thin ~50 nm film of cobalt oxide fabricated using atomic-layer deposition (ALD), exhibited photocurrent-onset potentials of -205 ± 20 mV relative to the formal potential for the oxygen-evolution reaction (OER), ideal regenerative solar-to-O₂(g) conversion efficiencies of 1.42 ± 0.20%, and operated continuously for over 100 days (~2500 h) in 1.0 M KOH(aq) under simulated solar illumination. The ALD CoO_x thin film: (i) formed a heterojunction with the n-Si(100) that provided a photovoltage of 575 mV under 1 Sun of simulated solar illumination; (ii) stabilized Si photoanodes that are otherwise unstable when operated in aqueous alkaline electrolytes; and, (iii) catalyzed the oxidation of water, thereby reducing the kinetic overpotential required for the reaction and increasing the overall efficiency relative to electrodes that do not have an inherently electrocatalytic coating. The process provides a simple, effective method for enabling the use of planar n-Si(100) substrates as efficient and durable photoanodes in fully integrated, photovoltaic-biased solar fuels generators.

View Accepted Manuscript (DOE)

Cite

Export

Save

Research Organization:: California Institute of Technology (CalTech), Pasadena, CA (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE Office of Science (SC); Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation

Grant/Contract Number:: SC0004993

OSTI ID:: 1436118

Journal Information:: Energy & Environmental Science, Vol. 9, Issue 3; ISSN 1754-5692

Publisher:: Royal Society of ChemistryCopyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

Citation Metrics:

Cited by: 114 works

Citation information provided by
Web of Science

References (30)

Photoelectrochemical Behavior of n-type Si(100) Electrodes Coated with Thin Films of Manganese Oxide Grown by Atomic Layer Deposition Strandwitz, Nicholas C.; Comstock, David J.; Grimm, Ronald L. The Journal of Physical Chemistry C, Vol. 117, Issue 10 https://doi.org/10.1021/jp311207x	journal	March 2013
Resistance and polarization losses in aqueous buffer–membrane electrolytes for water-splitting photoelectrochemical cells Hernández-Pagán, Emil A.; Vargas-Barbosa, Nella M.; Wang, TsingHai Energy & Environmental Science, Vol. 5, Issue 6 https://doi.org/10.1039/c2ee03422k	journal	January 2012
Powering the planet: Chemical challenges in solar energy utilization Lewis, N. S.; Nocera, D. G. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Vol. 103, Issue 43, p. 15729-15735 https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.0603395103	journal	October 2006
Stabilization of n-cadmium telluride photoanodes for water oxidation to O ₂ (g) in aqueous alkaline electrolytes using amorphous TiO ₂ films formed by atomic-layer deposition Lichterman, Michael F.; Carim, Azhar I.; McDowell, Matthew T. Energy Environ. Sci., Vol. 7, Issue 10 https://doi.org/10.1039/C4EE01914H	journal	January 2014
Methods for comparing the performance of energy-conversion systems for use in solar fuels and solar electricity generation Coridan, Robert H.; Nielander, Adam C.; Francis, Sonja A. Energy & Environmental Science, Vol. 8, Issue 10 https://doi.org/10.1039/C5EE00777A	journal	January 2015
High-Performance Silicon Photoanodes Passivated with Ultrathin Nickel Films for Water Oxidation Kenney, M. J.; Gong, M.; Li, Y. Science, Vol. 342, Issue 6160 https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1241327	journal	November 2013
A monolithically integrated, intrinsically safe, 10% efficient, solar-driven water-splitting system based on active, stable earth-abundant electrocatalysts in conjunction with tandem III–V light absorbers protected by amorphous TiO ₂ films Verlage, Erik; Hu, Shu; Liu, Rui Energy & Environmental Science, Vol. 8, Issue 11 https://doi.org/10.1039/C5EE01786F	journal	January 2015
An experimental and modeling/simulation-based evaluation of the efficiency and operational performance characteristics of an integrated, membrane-free, neutral pH solar-driven water-splitting system Jin, Jian; Walczak, Karl; Singh, Meenesh R. Energy Environ. Sci., Vol. 7, Issue 10 https://doi.org/10.1039/C4EE01824A	journal	January 2014
Sputtered NiO _x Films for Stabilization of p ⁺ n-InP Photoanodes for Solar-Driven Water Oxidation Sun, Ke; Kuang, Yanjin; Verlage, Erik Advanced Energy Materials, Vol. 5, Issue 11 https://doi.org/10.1002/aenm.201402276	journal	March 2015
Atomic layer-deposited tunnel oxide stabilizes silicon photoanodes for water oxidation Chen, Yi Wei; Prange, Jonathan D.; Dühnen, Simon Nature Materials, Vol. 10, Issue 7 https://doi.org/10.1038/nmat3047	journal	June 2011
Amorphous TiO2 coatings stabilize Si, GaAs, and GaP photoanodes for efficient water oxidation Hu, S.; Shaner, M. R.; Beardslee, J. A. Science, Vol. 344, Issue 6187 https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1251428	journal	May 2014
Stabilization of Si microwire arrays for solar-driven H ₂ O oxidation to O ₂ (g) in 1.0 M KOH(aq) using conformal coatings of amorphous TiO ₂ Shaner, Matthew R.; Hu, Shu; Sun, Ke Energy & Environmental Science, Vol. 8, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.1039/C4EE03012E	journal	January 2015
Modeling, simulation, and design criteria for photoelectrochemical water-splitting systems Haussener, Sophia; Xiang, Chengxiang; Spurgeon, Joshua M. Energy & Environmental Science, Vol. 5, Issue 12 https://doi.org/10.1039/c2ee23187e	journal	January 2012
On the stability of semiconductor electrodes against photodecomposition Gerischer, H. Journal of Electroanalytical Chemistry and Interfacial Electrochemistry, Vol. 82, Issue 1-2 https://doi.org/10.1016/S0022-0728(77)80253-2	journal	September 1977
Stable Solar-Driven Water Oxidation to O ₂ (g) by Ni-Oxide-Coated Silicon Photoanodes Sun, Ke; McDowell, Matthew T.; Nielander, Adam C. The Journal of Physical Chemistry Letters, Vol. 6, Issue 4 https://doi.org/10.1021/jz5026195	journal	January 2015
Crystalline TiO ₂ : A Generic and Effective Electron-Conducting Protection Layer for Photoanodes and -cathodes Mei, Bastian; Pedersen, Thomas; Malacrida, Paolo The Journal of Physical Chemistry C, Vol. 119, Issue 27 https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.jpcc.5b04407	journal	June 2015
Efficient and Sustained Photoelectrochemical Water Oxidation by Cobalt Oxide/Silicon Photoanodes with Nanotextured Interfaces Yang, Jinhui; Walczak, Karl; Anzenberg, Eitan Journal of the American Chemical Society, Vol. 136, Issue 17 https://doi.org/10.1021/ja501513t	journal	April 2014
Current-voltage characteristics of coupled photodiode-electrocatalyst devices Shaner, Matthew R.; Fountaine, Katherine T.; Lewerenz, Hans-Joachim Applied Physics Letters, Vol. 103, Issue 14 https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4822179	journal	September 2013
Sustainable Hydrogen Production Turner, J. A. Science, Vol. 305, Issue 5686 https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1103197	journal	August 2004
An electrodeposited inhomogeneous metal–insulator–semiconductor junction for efficient photoelectrochemical water oxidation Hill, James C.; Landers, Alan T.; Switzer, Jay A. Nature Materials, Vol. 14, Issue 11 https://doi.org/10.1038/nmat4408	journal	September 2015
Thin-Film Materials for the Protection of Semiconducting Photoelectrodes in Solar-Fuel Generators Hu, Shu; Lewis, Nathan S.; Ager, Joel W. The Journal of Physical Chemistry C, Vol. 119, Issue 43 https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.jpcc.5b05976	journal	October 2015
Will Solar-Driven Water-Splitting Devices See the Light of Day? McKone, James R.; Lewis, Nathan S.; Gray, Harry B. Chemistry of Materials, Vol. 26, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.1021/cm4021518	journal	September 2013
Enhanced Stability and Activity for Water Oxidation in Alkaline Media with Bismuth Vanadate Photoelectrodes Modified with a Cobalt Oxide Catalytic Layer Produced by Atomic Layer Deposition Lichterman, Michael F.; Shaner, Matthew R.; Handler, Sheila G. The Journal of Physical Chemistry Letters, Vol. 4, Issue 23 https://doi.org/10.1021/jz4022415	journal	November 2013
Interface engineering of the photoelectrochemical performance of Ni-oxide-coated n-Si photoanodes by atomic-layer deposition of ultrathin films of cobalt oxide Zhou, Xinghao; Liu, Rui; Sun, Ke Energy & Environmental Science, Vol. 8, Issue 9 https://doi.org/10.1039/C5EE01687H	journal	January 2015
The oxygen evolution reaction on cobalt Willems, H.; Kobussen, A. G. C.; De Wit, J. H. W. Journal of Electroanalytical Chemistry and Interfacial Electrochemistry, Vol. 170, Issue 1-2 https://doi.org/10.1016/0022-0728(84)80046-7	journal	July 1984
Enabling Silicon for Solar-Fuel Production Sun, Ke; Shen, Shaohua; Liang, Yongqi Chemical Reviews, Vol. 114, Issue 17 https://doi.org/10.1021/cr300459q	journal	January 2014
The Influence of Structure and Processing on the Behavior of TiO ₂ Protective Layers for Stabilization of n-Si/TiO ₂ /Ni Photoanodes for Water Oxidation McDowell, Matthew T.; Lichterman, Michael F.; Carim, Azhar I. ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces, Vol. 7, Issue 28 https://doi.org/10.1021/acsami.5b00379	journal	July 2015
Photocatalyst releasing hydrogen from water Maeda, Kazuhiko; Teramura, Kentaro; Lu, Daling Nature, Vol. 440, Issue 7082 https://doi.org/10.1038/440295a	journal	March 2006
p-Type Transparent Conducting Oxide/n-Type Semiconductor Heterojunctions for Efficient and Stable Solar Water Oxidation Chen, Le; Yang, Jinhui; Klaus, Shannon Journal of the American Chemical Society, Vol. 137, Issue 30 https://doi.org/10.1021/jacs.5b03536	journal	July 2015
Stable solar-driven oxidation of water by semiconducting photoanodes protected by transparent catalytic nickel oxide films Sun, Ke; Saadi, Fadl H.; Lichterman, Michael F. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Vol. 112, Issue 12, p. 3612-3617 https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1423034112	journal	March 2015

Cited By (26)

Photorechargeable High Voltage Redox Battery Enabled by Ta ₃ N ₅ and GaN/Si Dual-Photoelectrode Cheng, Qingmei; Fan, Weiqiang; He, Yumin Advanced Materials, Vol. 29, Issue 26 https://doi.org/10.1002/adma.201700312	journal	May 2017
Piezotronics in Photo-Electrochemistry Yu, Yanhao; Wang, Xudong Advanced Materials, Vol. 30, Issue 43 https://doi.org/10.1002/adma.201800154	journal	July 2018
A Photoelectrochemical Device with Dynamic Interface Energetics: Understanding of Structural and Physical Specificities and Improvement of Performance and Stability Jung, Jin‐Young; Yu, Jin‐Young; Yoon, Sanghwa Advanced Sustainable Systems, Vol. 2, Issue 12 https://doi.org/10.1002/adsu.201800083	journal	August 2018
Strategies for Semiconductor/Electrocatalyst Coupling toward Solar‐Driven Water Splitting Thalluri, Sitaramanjaneya Mouli; Bai, Lichen; Lv, Cuncai Advanced Science, Vol. 7, Issue 6 https://doi.org/10.1002/advs.201902102	journal	March 2020
NiFe Alloy Protected Silicon Photoanode for Efficient Water Splitting Yu, Xiaowen; Yang, Pu; Chen, Shan Advanced Energy Materials, Vol. 7, Issue 6 https://doi.org/10.1002/aenm.201601805	journal	November 2016
Dissociating Water at n‐Si Photoanodes Partially Covered with Fe Catalysts Oh, Kiseok; Dorcet, Vincent; Fabre, Bruno Advanced Energy Materials, Vol. 10, Issue 3 https://doi.org/10.1002/aenm.201902963	journal	December 2019
Selectivity of Chemical Conversions: Do Light‐Driven Photoelectrocatalytic Processes Hold Special Promise? Beranek, Radim Angewandte Chemie, Vol. 131, Issue 47 https://doi.org/10.1002/ange.201908654	journal	November 2019
Selectivity of Chemical Conversions: Do Light‐Driven Photoelectrocatalytic Processes Hold Special Promise? Beranek, Radim Angewandte Chemie International Edition, Vol. 58, Issue 47 https://doi.org/10.1002/anie.201908654	journal	November 2019
Recent Advances in Photoelectrochemical Applications of Silicon Materials for Solar-to-Chemicals Conversion Zhang, Doudou; Shi, Jingying; Zi, Wei ChemSusChem, Vol. 10, Issue 22 https://doi.org/10.1002/cssc.201701674	journal	November 2017
Transition-Metal-Based Electrocatalysts as Cocatalysts for Photoelectrochemical Water Splitting: A Mini Review Li, Deng; Shi, Jingying; Li, Can Small, Vol. 14, Issue 23 https://doi.org/10.1002/smll.201704179	journal	March 2018
Multifunctional Nickel Film Protected n‐Type Silicon Photoanode with High Photovoltage for Efficient and Stable Oxygen Evolution Reaction Luo, Zhibin; Liu, Bin; Li, Huimin Small Methods, Vol. 3, Issue 10 https://doi.org/10.1002/smtd.201900212	journal	May 2019
A High Efficiency Si Photoanode Protected by Few-Layer MoSe ₂ Vanka, Srinivas; Wang, Yongjie; Ghamari, Pegah Solar RRL, Vol. 2, Issue 8 https://doi.org/10.1002/solr.201800113	journal	June 2018
Interfacial engineering of metal-insulator-semiconductor junctions for efficient and stable photoelectrochemical water oxidation Digdaya, Ibadillah A.; Adhyaksa, Gede W. P.; Trześniewski, Bartek J. Nature Communications, Vol. 8, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.1038/ncomms15968	journal	June 2017
A multifunctional biphasic water splitting catalyst tailored for integration with high-performance semiconductor photoanodes Yang, Jinhui; Cooper, Jason K.; Toma, Francesca M. Nature Materials, Vol. 16, Issue 3 https://doi.org/10.1038/nmat4794	journal	November 2016
Tailoring the photoelectrochemistry of catalytic metal-insulator-semiconductor (MIS) photoanodes by a dissolution method Loget, G.; Mériadec, C.; Dorcet, V. Nature Communications, Vol. 10, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-019-11432-1	journal	August 2019
Conductive layer protected and oxide catalyst-coated thin-film silicon solar cell as an efficient photoanode Wang, Ning; Liu, Min; Liang, Junhui Catalysis Science & Technology, Vol. 7, Issue 23 https://doi.org/10.1039/c7cy01862b	journal	January 2017
Insights into the mechanism and aging of a noble-metal free H ₂ -evolving dye-sensitized photocathode Kaeffer, Nicolas; Windle, Christopher D.; Brisse, Romain Chemical Science, Vol. 9, Issue 32 https://doi.org/10.1039/c8sc00899j	journal	January 2018
A multifunctional vanadium-doped cobalt oxide layer on silicon photoanodes for efficient and stable photoelectrochemical water oxidation Xing, Zhuo; Wu, Hengyi; Wu, Liang Journal of Materials Chemistry A, Vol. 6, Issue 42 https://doi.org/10.1039/c8ta07552b	journal	January 2018
5.1% efficiency of Si photoanodes for photoelectrochemical water splitting catalyzed by porous NiFe (oxy)hydroxide converted from NiFe oxysulfide Zhou, Wanyi; Fan, Ronglei; Hu, Taozheng Chemical Communications, Vol. 55, Issue 84 https://doi.org/10.1039/c9cc06413c	journal	January 2019
Efficiency and stability of narrow-gap semiconductor-based photoelectrodes Zheng, Jianyun; Zhou, Huaijuan; Zou, Yuqin Energy & Environmental Science, Vol. 12, Issue 8 https://doi.org/10.1039/c9ee00524b	journal	January 2019
A semiconductor junction photoelectrochemical device without a depletion region Jung, Jin-Young; Kim, Sung-Hae; Shinde, Sambhaji S. Nanoscale, Vol. 11, Issue 47 https://doi.org/10.1039/c9nr08172k	journal	January 2019
Two-dimensional FeS ₂ -encapsulated Au: a quasi-epitaxial heterojunction for synergistic catalytic activity under photoelectrocatalytic water reduction Mondal, Indranil; Moon, Song Yi; Lee, Hyunhwa Journal of Materials Chemistry A, Vol. 7, Issue 33 https://doi.org/10.1039/c9ta02065a	journal	January 2019
Surface chemistry and photoelectrochemistry—Case study on tantalum nitride He, Yumin; Chen, Rong; Fa, Wenjun The Journal of Chemical Physics, Vol. 151, Issue 13 https://doi.org/10.1063/1.5122996	journal	October 2019
Silicon photoanodes partially covered by Ni@Fe core-shell particles with in situ formed gradient-enhanced junction electric field for photoelectrochemical water oxidation Jiang, Tong; Li, Yang; Yan, Shicheng Applied Physics Letters, Vol. 115, Issue 21 https://doi.org/10.1063/1.5128800	journal	November 2019
Photoassisted Electrodeposition of Cobalt-Phosphate Cocatalyst on BiFeO ₃ Thin Film Photoanode for Highly Efficient Photoelectrochemical Performances of Water Oxidation Wang, Yanze; Chen, Da; Wang, Sen Journal of The Electrochemical Society, Vol. 166, Issue 8 https://doi.org/10.1149/2.0711908jes	journal	January 2019
Insights into the mechanism and aging of a noble-metal free H-2-evolving dye-sensitized photocathode Kaeffer, Nicolas; Windle, Christopher D.; Brisse, Romain ETH Zurich https://doi.org/10.3929/ethz-b-000286962	text	January 2018

Similar Records

The Influence of Structure and Processing on the Behavior of TiO₂ Protective Layers for Stabilization of n-Si/TiO₂/Ni Photoanodes for Water Oxidation

Journal Article · Wed Jun 17 00:00:00 EDT 2015 · ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces · OSTI ID:1436118

McDowell, Matthew T.; Lichterman, Michael F.; Carim, Azhar I.; +4 more

Interface engineering of the photoelectrochemical performance of Ni-oxide-coated n-Si photoanodes by atomic-layer deposition of ultrathin films of cobalt oxide

Journal Article · Wed Jul 15 00:00:00 EDT 2015 · Energy & Environmental Science · OSTI ID:1436118

Zhou, Xinghao; Liu, Rui; Sun, Ke; +10 more

Tin Oxide as a Protective Heterojunction with Silicon for Efficient Photoelectrochemical Water Oxidation in Strongly Acidic or Alkaline Electrolytes

Journal Article · Sun Jul 01 00:00:00 EDT 2018 · Advanced Energy Materials · OSTI ID:1436118

Moreno‐Hernandez, Ivan A.; Brunschwig, Bruce S.; Lewis, Nathan S.

Related Subjects

14 SOLAR ENERGY

Title: 570 mV photovoltage, stabilized n-Si/CoOx heterojunction photoanodes fabricated using atomic layer deposition

Citation Formats

References (30)

Cited By (26)

Similar Records

Related Subjects

Title: 570 mV photovoltage, stabilized n-Si/CoO_x heterojunction photoanodes fabricated using atomic layer deposition