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 H2(g)

  • Christopher W. Roske
  • , Eric J. Popczun
  • , Brian Seger
  • , Carlos G. Read
  • , Thomas Pedersen
  • , Ole Hansen
  • , Peter C.K. Vesborg
  • , Bruce S. Brunschwig
  • , Raymond E. Schaak
  • , Ib Chorkendorff
  • , Harry B. Gray
  • , Nathan S. Lewis

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

64 Scopus citations

Abstract

The electrocatalytic performance for hydrogen evolution has been evaluated for radial-junction n+p-Si microwire (MW) arrays with Pt or cobalt phosphide, CoP, nanoparticulate catalysts in contact with 0.50 M H2SO4(aq). The CoP-coated (2.0 mg cm-2) n+p-Si MW photocathodes were stable for over 12 h of continuous operation and produced an open-circuit photovoltage (Voc) of 0.48 V, a light-limited photocurrent density (Jph) of 17 mA cm-2, a fill factor (ff) of 0.24, and an ideal regenerative cell efficiency (IRC) of 1.9% under simulated 1 Sun illumination. Pt-coated (0.5 mg cm-2) n+p-Si MW-array photocathodes produced Voc = 0.44 V, Jph = 14 mA cm-2, ff = 0.46, and = 2.9% under identical conditions. Thus, the MW geometry allows the fabrication of photocathodes entirely comprised of earth-abundant materials that exhibit performance comparable to that of devices that contain Pt.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)1679-1683
Number of pages5
JournalJournal of Physical Chemistry Letters
Volume6
Issue number9
DOIs
StatePublished - May 7 2015

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

  • General Materials Science
  • Physical and Theoretical Chemistry

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