Wide Bandgap Copper Chalcopyrite Materials for Photoelectrochemical Hydrogen Production

2006 ◽  
Vol 974 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bjorn Marsen ◽  
Susanne Dorn ◽  
Brian Cole ◽  
Richard E. Rocheleau ◽  
Eric L. Miller

ABSTRACTIn search of an efficient semiconductor material for direct photoelectrochemical (PEC) hydrogen production, chalcopyrite films in the Cu(In,Ga)Se2 system (CIGS) with bandgaps of 1.3-1.65 eV have been evaluated. The films have been fabricated by 2-stage and 3-stage co-evaporation processes. Film samples have been fabricated into CIGS/CdS solar cells for evaluation of solid-state device properties, and into CIGS photocathodes for evaluation of the photoelectrochemical hydrogen-production characteristics. The PEC current-potential scans of the photocathodes in 0.5M sulfuric acid show photocurrents of 18-27 mA/cm2 under simulated AM1.5 global light (100 mA/cm2) at sufficient cathodic potential bias. In terms of fill factor of the photocurrent curves, electrodes with molybdenum back contact are superior to SnO2:F back contact because of better conductivity. The morphology as seen in scanning electron micrographs is unchanged after initial PEC testing in the cathodic regime, suggesting films are stable.


2016 ◽  
Vol 52 (1) ◽  
pp. 378-383
Author(s):  
Rajesh Sharma ◽  
Keith Arnoult ◽  
Sunil Kumar Ramasahayam ◽  
Saad Azam ◽  
Zachary Hicks ◽  
...  

RSC Advances ◽  
2013 ◽  
Vol 3 (43) ◽  
pp. 19820 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chuantao Hou ◽  
Qin Xu ◽  
Yanjuan Wang ◽  
Xiaoya Hu

2016 ◽  
Vol 9 (10) ◽  
pp. 3113-3119 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hongxiu Zhang ◽  
Qi Ding ◽  
Denghong He ◽  
Hu Liu ◽  
Wei Liu ◽  
...  

We report the rational design and successful preparation of p-Si/NiCoSex core/shell nanopillar array photocathodes for enhanced solar-driven photoelectrochemical hydrogen generation.


2013 ◽  
Vol 1558 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicolas Gaillard ◽  
Dixit Prasher ◽  
Jess Kaneshiro ◽  
Stewart Mallory ◽  
Marina Chong

ABSTRACTIn the present communication, we report our efforts to integrate chalcogenide-based photoelectrochemical (PEC) materials into a standalone device capable of water-splitting using sunlight as the only source of energy. More specifically, the PEC performances of copper gallium diselenide are presented. First, a brief introduction to the material microstructural characteristics is presented. Then, the PEC properties are discussed, including incident-photonto-current efficiency (>60% in the visible), Faradaic efficiency (uncatalyzed, 86%) and durability (400 hours). Finally, we report the solar-to-hydrogen benchmark efficiency (3.7%) of a device made of a CuGaSe2 photocathode and a-Si solar cells measured in a 2-electrode configuration using a RuO2 counter electrode.


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