Abstract
A highly efficient, low-cost and environmentally friendly photocathode with long-term stability is the goal of practical solar hydrogen evolution applications. Here, we found that the Cu3BiS3 film-based photocathode meets the abovementioned requirements. The Cu3BiS3-based photocathode presents a remarkable onset potential over 0.9 VRHE with excellent photoelectrochemical current densities (~7 mA/cm2 under 0 VRHE) and appreciable 10-hour long-term stability in neutral water solutions. This high onset potential of the Cu3BiS3-based photocathode directly results in a good unbiased operating photocurrent of ~1.6 mA/cm2 assisted by the BiVO4 photoanode. A tandem device of Cu3BiS3-BiVO4 with an unbiased solar-to-hydrogen conversion efficiency of 2.04% is presented. This tandem device also presents high stability over 20 hours. Ultimately, a 5 × 5 cm2 large Cu3BiS3-BiVO4 tandem device module is fabricated for standalone overall solar water splitting with a long-term stability of 60 hours.
Highlights
A highly efficient, low-cost and environmentally friendly photocathode with long-term stability is the goal of practical solar hydrogen evolution applications
P-type semiconductors that are used on photovoltaic devices such as c-Si10, a-Si11, Cu(In,Ga)Se12,13, CuInS214, Cu2ZnSnS4 (CZTS)[15,16], CuSbS217, Sb2Se318 and CdTe19 are always suitable as the photocathode for PEC water splitting due to their high light absorption coefficient and suitable optical band gap
We found that the quality of the Cu3BiS3 films was significantly influenced by the substrate temperature and Cu: Bi molar ratio of the precursor solution
Summary
A highly efficient, low-cost and environmentally friendly photocathode with long-term stability is the goal of practical solar hydrogen evolution applications. The Cu3BiS3based photocathode presents a remarkable onset potential over 0.9 VRHE with excellent photoelectrochemical current densities (~7 mA/cm[2] under 0 VRHE) and appreciable 10-hour long-term stability in neutral water solutions. This high onset potential of the Cu3BiS3-based photocathode directly results in a good unbiased operating photocurrent of ~1.6 mA/cm[2] assisted by the BiVO4 photoanode. A tandem device of Cu3BiS3-BiVO4 with an unbiased solar-to-hydrogen conversion efficiency of 2.04% is presented. TiO2 photoelectrodes showed promising PEC water splitting properties[8], various semiconductor materials have been investigated to improve the solar-to-hydrogen (STH) conversion efficiency and device working stability[9]. We achieved a record applied bias photon-to-current efficiency (ABPE) over 2.7% and 3.5% with the highest onset potential of 0.7
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