Hetero-type dual photoanodes for unbiased solar water splitting with extended light harvesting

Jin Hyun Kim, Ji-Wook Jang, Yim Hyun Jo, Fatwa F. Abdi, Young Hye Lee, Roel van de Krol () and Jae Sung Lee ()
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Jin Hyun Kim: School of Environmental Science & Engineering, Pohang University of Science and Technology (POSTECH)
Ji-Wook Jang: Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin für Materialien und Energie GmbH, Institute for Solar Fuels
Yim Hyun Jo: Advanced Center for Energy, Korea Institute of Energy Research (KIER)
Fatwa F. Abdi: Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin für Materialien und Energie GmbH, Institute for Solar Fuels
Young Hye Lee: School of Environmental Science & Engineering, Pohang University of Science and Technology (POSTECH)
Roel van de Krol: Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin für Materialien und Energie GmbH, Institute for Solar Fuels
Jae Sung Lee: School of Energy and Chemical Engineering, Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology (UNIST)

Nature Communications, 2016, vol. 7, issue 1, 1-9

Abstract: Abstract Metal oxide semiconductors are promising photoelectrode materials for solar water splitting due to their robustness in aqueous solutions and low cost. Yet, their solar-to-hydrogen conversion efficiencies are still not high enough for practical applications. Here we present a strategy to enhance the efficiency of metal oxides, hetero-type dual photoelectrodes, in which two photoanodes of different bandgaps are connected in parallel for extended light harvesting. Thus, a photoelectrochemical device made of modified BiVO4 and α-Fe2O3 as dual photoanodes utilizes visible light up to 610 nm for water splitting, and shows stable photocurrents of 7.0±0.2 mA cm−2 at 1.23 VRHE under 1 sun irradiation. A tandem cell composed with the dual photoanodes–silicon solar cell demonstrates unbiased water splitting efficiency of 7.7%. These results and concept represent a significant step forward en route to the goal of >10% efficiency required for practical solar hydrogen production.

Date: 2016
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DOI: 10.1038/ncomms13380

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