Abstract
Low-cost catalysts with high activity and durability are necessary to achieve efficient large-scale energy conversion in photoelectrochemical cell (PEC) systems. An additional factor that governs the construction of photoelectrodes for PECs is the spatial control of the catalysts for efficient utilization of photogenerated charge carriers. Here, we demonstrate spatial decoupling of the light-absorbing and catalytic components in hierarchically structured Si-based photocathodes for the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER). By simply modifying a well-known metal-assisted chemical etching procedure, we fabricated a Si nanowire (NW) array-based photocathode with Ag–Pt catalysts at the base and small amounts of the Pt catalyst at the NW tips. This approach simultaneously mitigates the parasitic light absorption by the catalytic layers and recombination of charge carriers owing to the long transport distance, resulting in improved photoelectrochemical HER performance under simulated AM 1.5G illumination.
Published Version (Free)
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Disclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.