Semiconductor photo-electrochemical solar cells based on admixing of nano-materials for renewable energy

Abstract

We studied a new type of TiO2-WO3 admixed septum-based semiconductor photo-electrochemical (SC-SEP, PEC) solar cell for photo-electro chemical measurement and hydrogen production. The SC-SEP cell in the configuration of SCE/1 M NaOH/TiO2 (ns)/Ti/H2SO4 + K2SO4/PtCE, PtWE showed photo-voltage and photo-current of 0.72 V and 8.6 mA/cm2, respectively, whereas the SC-SEP cell employing WO3 admixed TiO2 (ns) photo-electrode with the configuration: SCE/1 M NaOH/TiO2(ns)-WO3/Ti/H2SO4 + K2SO4/PtCE, PtWE, showed photo-voltage and photo-current of 0.96 V and 15.6 mA/cm2, respectively. The hydrogen gas evolution for the SC-SEP cell based on TiO2 (ns)/Ti photo-electrode was found to be 8.2 l/h/m2, while the WO3-modified ns-TiO2 exhibited a higher hydrogen gas evolution rate of 13.8 l/h/m2. The improved performance of new photo-electrode is due to improved spectral response of WO3 for the hydrogen gas evolution kinetics.