Pt nanoclusters on GaN nanowires for solar-asssisted seawater hydrogen evolution

Wan Jae Dong, Yixin Xiao, Ke R. Yang, Zhengwei Ye, Peng Zhou, Ishtiaque Ahmed Navid, Victor S. Batista () and Zetian Mi ()
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Wan Jae Dong: University of Michigan
Yixin Xiao: University of Michigan
Ke R. Yang: Yale University
Zhengwei Ye: University of Michigan
Peng Zhou: University of Michigan
Ishtiaque Ahmed Navid: University of Michigan
Victor S. Batista: Yale University
Zetian Mi: University of Michigan

Nature Communications, 2023, vol. 14, issue 1, 1-10

Abstract: Abstract Seawater electrolysis provides a viable method to produce clean hydrogen fuel. To date, however, the realization of high performance photocathodes for seawater hydrogen evolution reaction has remained challenging. Here, we introduce n+-p Si photocathodes with dramatically improved activity and stability for hydrogen evolution reaction in seawater, modified by Pt nanoclusters anchored on GaN nanowires. We find that Pt-Ga sites at the Pt/GaN interface promote the dissociation of water molecules and spilling H* over to neighboring Pt atoms for efficient H2 production. Pt/GaN/Si photocathodes achieve a current density of −10 mA/cm2 at 0.15 and 0.39 V vs. RHE and high applied bias photon-to-current efficiency of 1.7% and 7.9% in seawater (pH = 8.2) and phosphate-buffered seawater (pH = 7.4), respectively. We further demonstrate a record-high photocurrent density of ~169 mA/cm2 under concentrated solar light (9 suns). Moreover, Pt/GaN/Si can continuously produce H2 even under dark conditions by simply switching the electrical contact. This work provides valuable guidelines to design an efficient, stable, and energy-saving electrode for H2 generation by seawater splitting.

Date: 2023
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DOI: 10.1038/s41467-023-35782-z

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