Abstract
Solar H2 production is considered as a potentially promising way to utilize solar energy and tackle climate change stemming from the combustion of fossil fuels. Photocatalytic, photoelectrochemical, photovoltaic–electrochemical, solar thermochemical, photothermal catalytic, and photobiological technologies are the most intensively studied routes for solar H2 production. In this Focus Review, we provide a comprehensive review of these technologies. After a brief introduction of the principles and mechanisms of these technologies, the recent achievements in solar H2 production are summarized, with a particular focus on the high solar-to-H2 (STH) conversion efficiency achieved by each route. We then comparatively analyze and evaluate these technologies based on the metrics of STH efficiency, durability, economic viability, and environmental sustainability, aiming to assess the commercial feasibility of these solar technologies compared with current industrial H2 production processes. Finally, the challenges and prospects of future research on solar H2 production technologies are presented.
Highlights
Solar H2 production is considered as a potentially promising way to utilize solar energy and tackle climate change stemming from the combustion of fossil fuels
Tremendous progress has been made in accelerating the application and deployment of solar H2 production by addressing the issues of performance, durability, and system costs.[12,15−19] on the basis of solar energy conversion efficiency, durability, cost, and environmental impacts
The reduction of ceria was conducted at ∼1600 °C, and the ensuing H2O dissociation occurred at 900 °C, with an average H2 production rate of 310 mL min−1
Summary
Costly III−V semiconductors, GaAs/InGaAsP, were still used for the PV cell. To reduce the cost of tandem cells, low-cost PV cells like perovskite solar cells (PSCs) and dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) were chosen to integrate with oxide-based photoanodes. With regard to PV-EC systems, Ye et al demonstrated an average STH efficiency of 16.9% by a crystalline Si solar-celldriven water electrolysis device, in which Co- and Fe-doped WO2.72 was used as the oxygen evolution anode with a rather low overpotential of 226 mV.[78] Guided by DFT calculations, Hsu et al developed a selective OER catalyst, Co2[Fe(CN)6], in seawater.[79] Using NiMoS as cathode to construct an EC cell, this device, powered by a commercial InGaP/GaAs/Ge threejunction solar cell, gave an STH efficiency of 17.9% with excellent stability over 100 h.
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