Interface-Engineered InAlN/Cu2O Photocathode with Accelerated Charge Separation for Boosting Photoelectrochemical Water SplittingShow others and affiliations
2024 (English)In: Solar RRL, E-ISSN 2367-198X, Vol. 8, no 10, article id 2400094Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]
Cu2O has emerged as a promising material for sustainable hydrogen production through photoelectrochemical (PEC) water splitting, while inefficient charge separation remains one of the main challenges hindering its development. In this work, a new architecture of InAlN/Cu2O heterojunction photocathode is demonstrated by combining n-type InAlN and p-type Cu2O to improve the charge separation efficiency, thus enhancing PEC water-splitting performance. The Pt/InAlN/Cu2O photoelectrode exhibits a photocurrent density of 2.54 mA cm(-2) at 0 V versus reversible hydrogen electrode (V-RHE), which is 3.21 times higher than that of Cu2O (0.79 mA cm(-2) at V-RHE). The enhanced PEC performance is explained by the larger built-in potential V-bi of 1.43 V formed at the InAlN/Cu2O p-n junction than that in the single Cu2O photocathode (V-bi < 0.77 V), which improves the separation of the photogenerated carriers and thus relieves the bottlenecks of charge-transfer kinetics at the electrode bulk and electrode/electrolyte interface. In this work, an avenue is opened for designing III-nitrides/Cu2O heterojunction toward solar energy conversion.
Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
WILEY-V C H VERLAG GMBH , 2024. Vol. 8, no 10, article id 2400094
Keywords [en]
charge transfers; Cu2O; InAlN; photoelectrochemical water splitting; p-n heterojunction
National Category
Other Chemical Engineering
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:liu:diva-202475DOI: 10.1002/solr.202400094ISI: 001198084900001Scopus ID: 2-s2.0-85189454759OAI: oai:DiVA.org:liu-202475DiVA, id: diva2:1851604
Note
Funding Agencies|Swedish Research Council (Vetenskapsradet) [2018-04670, 2020-04400, 2018-04198]; Swedish Foundation for International Cooperation in Research and Higher Education (STINT) [CH2016-6722]; Olle Engkvists Stiftelse [220-0222, 221-0259, 227-0244]; AForsk Foundation [23-489]; Carl Tryggers Stiftelse [CTS22-2190]; Swedish Research Council [2018-07152]; Swedish Governmental Agency for Innovation Systems [2018-04969]; Formas [2019-02496]
2024-04-152024-04-152025-02-11Bibliographically approved