Abstract
The attempts to develop efficient methods of solar energy conversion into chemical fuel are ongoing amid climate changes associated with global warming. Photo-electrocatalytic (PEC) water splitting and CO2 reduction reactions show high potential to tackle this challenge. However, the development of economically feasible solutions of PEC solar energy conversion requires novel efficient and stable earth-abundant nanostructured materials. The latter are hardly available without detailed understanding of the local atomic and electronic structure dynamics and mechanisms of the processes occurring during chemical reactions on the catalyst–electrolyte interface. This review considers recent efforts to study photo-electrocatalytic reactions using in situ and operando synchrotron spectroscopies. Particular attention is paid to the operando reaction mechanisms, which were established using X-ray Absorption (XAS) and X-ray Photoelectron (XPS) Spectroscopies. Operando cells that are needed to perform such experiments on synchrotron are covered. Classical and modern theoretical approaches to extract structural information from X-ray Absorption Near-Edge Structure (XANES) spectra are discussed.
Highlights
One promising option to convert solar energy into chemical energy is splitting water into hydrogen and oxygen using insolation. Such a process considered as artificial photosynthesis could be a sustainable solution to the growing need for transportable fuel and storable renewable energy [5]
To the best of our knowledge, there are no works reported on the application of artificial intelligence (AI)-assisted theoretical analysis of X-ray Absorption Near-Edge Structure (XANES) spectra collected under PEC reactions, we believe that this field of research could benefit from the AI-assisted theoretical interpretation of operando synchrotron data
In situ and operando synchrotron spectroscopies are powerful techniques in studying structural dynamics and establishing reaction mechanisms that occur during PEC reactions
Summary
In Photoelectrochemical Water Splitting: Standards, Experimental Methods, and Protocols; Springer: New York, NY, USA, 2013; pp. 1–5. Y.R.; Wang, Y.F.; Chang, H.W.; Huang, Y.C.; Chen, J.L.; Chen, C.L.; Lin, Y.C.; Lin, Y.G.; Pong, W.F.; Ohigashi, T.; et al. Effect of Fe2 O3 coating on ZnO nanowires in photoelectrochemical water splitting: A synchrotron X-ray spectroscopic and spectromicroscopic investigation. T.; Fracchia, M.; Vertova, A.; Achilli, E.; Naldoni, A.; Malara, F.; Rossi, G.; Rondinini, S.; Ghigna, P.; Minguzzi, A.; et al. Operando and Time-Resolved X-ray Absorption Spectroscopy for the Study of Photoelectrode Architectures. H.Y.; Tian, W.J.; Li, Y.G.; Sun, H.Q.; Tade, M.O.; Wang, S.B. Heterostructured WO3 @CoWO4 bilayer nanosheets for enhanced visible-light photo, electro and photoelectro-chemical oxidation of water. T.; Zhu, Z.L.; Chen, H.N.; Bai, Y.; Xiao, S.; Zheng, X.L.; Xue, Q.Z.; Yang, S.H. Iron-doping-enhanced photoelectrochemical water splitting performance of nanostructured WO3 : A combined experimental and theoretical study.
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