Si Microwire-Array Photocathodes Decorated with Cu Allow CO 2 Reduction with Minimal Parasitic Absorption of Sunlight

Kempler, Paul A.; Richter, Matthias H.; Cheng, Wen-Hui; Brunschwig, Bruce S.; Lewis, Nathan S.

doi:10.1021/acsenergylett.0c01334

Title: Si Microwire-Array Photocathodes Decorated with Cu Allow CO ₂ Reduction with Minimal Parasitic Absorption of Sunlight

Journal Article · Tue Jul 07 00:00:00 EDT 2020 · ACS Energy Letters

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1021/acsenergylett.0c01334· OSTI ID:1801632

^[1];

^[1]

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

High loadings of Cu were integrated on the light-facing side of Si microwire arrays used under simulated sunlight for the photoelectrochemical reduction of CO₂(aq) to hydrocarbons in 0.10 M KHCO₃(aq). Radial-junction n⁺p-Si microwire arrays decorated with Cu exhibited absolute photocurrent densities comparable to an uncovered Si surface. Moreover, with respect to a Cu foil electrode, the positive shift in the onset potential for hydrocarbon formation at n⁺p-Si/Cu microwire arrays was equal to or greater than the photovoltage of the semiconductor alone. Selective electrodeposition of Cu on the tips and sidewalls of Si microwires was responsible for the minimal parasitic reflection and absorption exhibited by the catalyst, such that light-limited, absolute current densities >25 mA·cm^–2 were sustained for 48 h under simulated sunlight. Photoelectrodes prepared from semiconductors with low diode quality factors and electrocatalysts with large Tafel slopes are shown to benefit from increased microstructured surface area. Si microwire arrays are thus suitable for photoelectrochemical reactions requiring high loadings of metallic and reflective electrocatalysts.

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)

Grant/Contract Number:: SC0004993

OSTI ID:: 1801632

Journal Information:: ACS Energy Letters, Vol. 5, Issue 8; ISSN 2380-8195

Publisher:: American Chemical Society (ACS)Copyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

References (37)

Mesostructure-Induced Selectivity in CO ₂ Reduction Catalysis Hall, Anthony Shoji; Yoon, Youngmin; Wuttig, Anna Journal of the American Chemical Society, Vol. 137, Issue 47 https://doi.org/10.1021/jacs.5b08259	journal	November 2015
Si photocathode with Ag-supported dendritic Cu catalyst for CO ₂ reduction Gurudayal, Gurudayal; Beeman, Jeffrey W.; Bullock, James Energy & Environmental Science, Vol. 12, Issue 3 https://doi.org/10.1039/C8EE03547D	journal	January 2019
Efficient solar-driven electrochemical CO ₂ reduction to hydrocarbons and oxygenates Gurudayal, Gurudayal; Bullock, James; Srankó, Dávid F. Energy & Environmental Science, Vol. 10, Issue 10 https://doi.org/10.1039/C7EE01764B	journal	January 2017
Efficient and Stable Silicon Microwire Photocathodes with a Nickel Silicide Interlayer for Operation in Strongly Alkaline Solutions Vijselaar, Wouter; Tiggelaar, Roald M.; Gardeniers, Han ACS Energy Letters, Vol. 3, Issue 5 https://doi.org/10.1021/acsenergylett.8b00267	journal	April 2018
Spatial decoupling of light absorption and catalytic activity of Ni–Mo-loaded high-aspect-ratio silicon microwire photocathodes Vijselaar, Wouter; Westerik, Pieter; Veerbeek, Janneke Nature Energy, Vol. 3, Issue 3 https://doi.org/10.1038/s41560-017-0068-x	journal	January 2018
Electrochemical reduction of carbon dioxides to carbon monoxide at a gold electrode in aqueous potassium hydrogen carbonate Hori, Yoshio; Murata, Akira; Kikuchi, Katsuhei Journal of the Chemical Society, Chemical Communications, Issue 10 https://doi.org/10.1039/c39870000728	journal	January 1987
A quantitative analysis of the efficiency of solar-driven water-splitting device designs based on tandem photoabsorbers patterned with islands of metallic electrocatalysts Chen, Yikai; Sun, Ke; Audesirk, Heather Energy & Environmental Science, Vol. 8, Issue 6 https://doi.org/10.1039/C5EE00311C	journal	January 2015
Electrochemically converting carbon monoxide to liquid fuels by directing selectivity with electrode surface area Wang, Lei; Nitopi, Stephanie; Wong, Andrew B. Nature Catalysis, Vol. 2, Issue 8 https://doi.org/10.1038/s41929-019-0301-z	journal	June 2019
Reduced SnO ₂ Porous Nanowires with a High Density of Grain Boundaries as Catalysts for Efficient Electrochemical CO ₂ -into-HCOOH Conversion Kumar, Bijandra; Atla, Veerendra; Brian, J. Patrick Angewandte Chemie International Edition, Vol. 56, Issue 13 https://doi.org/10.1002/anie.201612194	journal	February 2017
An Optocatalytic Model for Semiconductor–Catalyst Water-Splitting Photoelectrodes Based on In Situ Optical Measurements on Operational Catalysts Trotochaud, Lena; Mills, Thomas J.; Boettcher, Shannon W. The Journal of Physical Chemistry Letters, Vol. 4, Issue 6 https://doi.org/10.1021/jz4002604	journal	March 2013
OPAL 2: Rapid optical simulation of silicon solar cells McIntosh, Keith R.; Baker-Finch, Simeon C. 2012 IEEE 38th Photovoltaic Specialists Conference (PVSC), 2012 38th IEEE Photovoltaic Specialists Conference https://doi.org/10.1109/PVSC.2012.6317616	conference	June 2012
Electrocatalytic Conversion of Carbon Dioxide to Methane and Methanol on Transition Metal Surfaces Kuhl, Kendra P.; Hatsukade, Toru; Cave, Etosha R. Journal of the American Chemical Society, Vol. 136, Issue 40 https://doi.org/10.1021/ja505791r	journal	August 2014
Operational constraints and strategies for systems to effect the sustainable, solar-driven reduction of atmospheric CO ₂ Chen, Yikai; Lewis, Nathan S.; Xiang, Chengxiang Energy & Environmental Science, Vol. 8, Issue 12 https://doi.org/10.1039/C5EE02908B	journal	January 2015
A Stand‐Alone Si‐Based Porous Photoelectrochemical Cell Vijselaar, Wouter J. C.; Perez‐Rodriguez, Paula; Westerik, Pieter J. Advanced Energy Materials, Vol. 9, Issue 19 https://doi.org/10.1002/aenm.201803548	journal	March 2019
Developing a scalable artificial photosynthesis technology through nanomaterials by design Lewis, Nathan S. Nature Nanotechnology, Vol. 11, Issue 12 https://doi.org/10.1038/nnano.2016.194	journal	December 2016
CO ₂ electroreduction to ethylene via hydroxide-mediated copper catalysis at an abrupt interface Dinh, Cao-Thang; Burdyny, Thomas; Kibria, Md Golam Science, Vol. 360, Issue 6390 https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aas9100	journal	May 2018
Photoelectrochemical Conversion of Carbon Dioxide (CO ₂ ) into Fuels and Value-Added Products Kumaravel, Vignesh; Bartlett, John; Pillai, Suresh C. ACS Energy Letters, Vol. 5, Issue 2 https://doi.org/10.1021/acsenergylett.9b02585	journal	January 2020
Designing effective Si/Ag interface via controlled chemical etching for photoelectrochemical CO ₂ reduction Hu, Yongpan; Chen, Fengjiao; Ding, Pan Journal of Materials Chemistry A, Vol. 6, Issue 44 https://doi.org/10.1039/C8TA05420G	journal	January 2018
Comparison of the Performance of CoP-Coated and Pt-Coated Radial Junction n ⁺ p-Silicon Microwire-Array Photocathodes for the Sunlight-Driven Reduction of Water to H ₂ (g) Roske, Christopher W.; Popczun, Eric J.; Seger, Brian The Journal of Physical Chemistry Letters, Vol. 6, Issue 9 https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.jpclett.5b00495	journal	April 2015
Solar optical properties of thin films of Cu, Ag, Au, Cr, Fe, Co, Ni and Al Valkonen, E.; Karlsson, B.; Ribbing, C-G. Solar Energy, Vol. 32, Issue 2 https://doi.org/10.1016/S0038-092X(84)80038-9	journal	January 1984
Nanoporous Gold as a Highly Selective and Active Carbon Dioxide Reduction Catalyst Welch, Alex J.; DuChene, Joseph S.; Tagliabue, Giulia ACS Applied Energy Materials, Vol. 2, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.1021/acsaem.8b01570	journal	December 2018
Nickel–Gallium-Catalyzed Electrochemical Reduction of CO ₂ to Highly Reduced Products at Low Overpotentials Torelli, Daniel A.; Francis, Sonja A.; Crompton, J. Chance ACS Catalysis, Vol. 6, Issue 3 https://doi.org/10.1021/acscatal.5b02888	journal	February 2016
Hydrogen Evolution with Minimal Parasitic Light Absorption by Dense Co–P Catalyst Films on Structured p-Si Photocathodes Kempler, Paul A.; Gonzalez, Miguel A.; Papadantonakis, Kimberly M. ACS Energy Letters, Vol. 3, Issue 3 https://doi.org/10.1021/acsenergylett.8b00034	journal	February 2018
Solar conversion of CO2 to CO using Earth-abundant electrocatalysts prepared by atomic layer modification of CuO Schreier, Marcel; Héroguel, Florent; Steier, Ludmilla Nature Energy, Vol. 2, Issue 7 https://doi.org/10.1038/nenergy.2017.87	journal	June 2017
Formation of hydrocarbons in the electrochemical reduction of carbon dioxide at a copper electrode in aqueous solution Hori, Yoshio; Murata, Akira; Takahashi, Ryutaro Journal of the Chemical Society, Faraday Transactions 1: Physical Chemistry in Condensed Phases, Vol. 85, Issue 8 https://doi.org/10.1039/f19898502309	journal	January 1989
Intermetallic Alloys as CO Electroreduction Catalysts—Role of Isolated Active Sites Karamad, Mohammadreza; Tripkovic, Vladimir; Rossmeisl, Jan ACS Catalysis, Vol. 4, Issue 7 https://doi.org/10.1021/cs500328c	journal	May 2014
High-Density Nanosharp Microstructures Enable Efficient CO ₂ Electroreduction Saberi Safaei, Tina; Mepham, Adam; Zheng, Xueli Nano Letters, Vol. 16, Issue 11 https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.nanolett.6b03615	journal	October 2016
Integration of electrocatalysts with silicon microcone arrays for minimization of optical and overpotential losses during sunlight-driven hydrogen evolution Yalamanchili, Sisir; Kempler, Paul A.; Papadantonakis, Kimberly M. Sustainable Energy & Fuels, Vol. 3, Issue 9 https://doi.org/10.1039/C9SE00294D	journal	January 2019
Reduction of CO₂ and CO to methane on Cu foil electrodes Kim, J. J.; Summers, D. P.; Frese, K. W. Journal of Electroanalytical Chemistry and Interfacial Electrochemistry, Vol. 245, Issue 1-2, p. 223-244 https://doi.org/10.1016/0022-0728(88)80071-8	journal	April 1988
Nanostructuring Strategies To Increase the Photoelectrochemical Water Splitting Activity of Silicon Photocathodes Hellstern, Thomas R.; Nielander, Adam C.; Chakthranont, Pongkarn ACS Applied Nano Materials, Vol. 2, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.1021/acsanm.8b01966	journal	January 2019
New insights into the electrochemical reduction of carbon dioxide on metallic copper surfaces Kuhl, Kendra P.; Cave, Etosha R.; Abram, David N. Energy & Environmental Science, Vol. 5, Issue 5 https://doi.org/10.1039/c2ee21234j	journal	January 2012
Palladium–gold catalyst for the electrochemical reduction of CO ₂ to C ₁ –C ₅ hydrocarbons Kortlever, R.; Peters, I.; Balemans, C. Chemical Communications, Vol. 52, Issue 67 https://doi.org/10.1039/C6CC03717H	journal	January 2016
High Rate, Selective, and Stable Electroreduction of CO ₂ to CO in Basic and Neutral Media Dinh, Cao-Thang; García de Arquer, F. Pelayo; Sinton, David ACS Energy Letters, Vol. 3, Issue 11 https://doi.org/10.1021/acsenergylett.8b01734	journal	October 2018
Photoelectrochemical Hydrogen Evolution Using Si Microwire Arrays Boettcher, Shannon W.; Warren, Emily L.; Putnam, Morgan C. Journal of the American Chemical Society, Vol. 133, Issue 5, p. 1216-1219 https://doi.org/10.1021/ja108801m	journal	January 2011
Directed Assembly of Nanoparticle Catalysts on Nanowire Photoelectrodes for Photoelectrochemical CO ₂ Reduction Kong, Qiao; Kim, Dohyung; Liu, Chong Nano Letters, Vol. 16, Issue 9 https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.nanolett.6b02321	journal	August 2016
Efficient Photoelectrochemical Reduction of Carbon Dioxide on a p-Type Silicon (p-Si) Electrode Modified with Very Small Copper Particles Hinogami, Reiko; Mori, Tomohiro; Yae, Shinji Chemistry Letters, Vol. 23, Issue 9 https://doi.org/10.1246/cl.1994.1725	journal	September 1994
Modification of p-type Silicon for the Photoelectrochemical Reduction of CO ₂ Cottineau, Thomas; Morin, Mario; Bélanger, Daniel ECS Transactions, Vol. 19, Issue 35 https://doi.org/10.1149/1.3277248	journal	May 2009

Similar Records

Hydrogen Evolution with Minimal Parasitic Light Absorption by Dense Co–P Catalyst Films on Structured p-Si Photocathodes

Journal Article · Thu Feb 08 00:00:00 EST 2018 · ACS Energy Letters · OSTI ID:1801632

Kempler, Paul A.; Gonzalez, Miguel A.; Papadantonakis, Kimberly M.; +1 more

Functional integration of Ni–Mo electrocatalysts with Si microwire array photocathodes to simultaneously achieve high fill factors and light-limited photocurrent densities for solar-driven hydrogen evolution

Journal Article · Fri Aug 07 00:00:00 EDT 2015 · Energy & Environmental Science · OSTI ID:1801632

Shaner, Matthew R.; McKone, James R.; Gray, Harry B.; +1 more

Single-nanowire photoelectrochemistry

Journal Article · Mon Mar 28 00:00:00 EDT 2016 · Nature Nanotechnology · OSTI ID:1801632

Su, Yude; Liu, Chong; Brittman, Sarah; +5 more

Related Subjects

25 ENERGY STORAGE
Chemistry
Electrochemistry
Energy & Fuels
Materials Science
Photonics
Electrical properties
Electrodes
Catalysts
Semiconductors

Title: Si Microwire-Array Photocathodes Decorated with Cu Allow CO 2 Reduction with Minimal Parasitic Absorption of Sunlight

Citation Formats

References (37)

Similar Records

Related Subjects

Title: Si Microwire-Array Photocathodes Decorated with Cu Allow CO ₂ Reduction with Minimal Parasitic Absorption of Sunlight