Achieving 12.0% Solar-to-Hydrogen Efficiency with a Trimetallic-Layer-Protected and Catalyzed Silicon Photoanode Coupled with an Inexpensive Silicon Solar Cell
n-Type silicon (n-Si), with surface easily oxidized and passivated in an aqueous electrolyte, has suffered from sluggish oxygen evolution reaction (OER) kinetics for photoelectrochemical (PEC) water splitting. Herein, a trimetallic Ni0.9Fe0.05Co0.05 protective layer is successfully electrodeposited...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Elsevier
2023-06-01
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| Series: | Engineering |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2095809923001984 |
| _version_ | 1797672081866883072 |
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| author | Lingyun He Xin Hong Yiqing Wang Zhonghang Xing Jiafeng Geng Penghui Guo Jinzhan Su Shaohua Shen |
| author_facet | Lingyun He Xin Hong Yiqing Wang Zhonghang Xing Jiafeng Geng Penghui Guo Jinzhan Su Shaohua Shen |
| author_sort | Lingyun He |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | n-Type silicon (n-Si), with surface easily oxidized and passivated in an aqueous electrolyte, has suffered from sluggish oxygen evolution reaction (OER) kinetics for photoelectrochemical (PEC) water splitting. Herein, a trimetallic Ni0.9Fe0.05Co0.05 protective layer is successfully electrodeposited on a p+n-Si substrate by underpotential deposition. The prepared Ni0.9Fe0.05Co0.05/p+n-Si photoanode exhibits excellent stability and activity for PEC water oxidation, with a low onset potential of 0.938 V versus a reversible hydrogen electrode (RHE) and a remarkable photocurrent density of about 33.1 mA∙cm−2 at 1.23 V versus RHE, which significantly outperforms the Ni/p+n-Si photoanode as a reference. It is revealed that the incorporation of Fe into the Ni layer creates a large band bending at the Ni0.9Fe0.05Co0.05/p+n-Si interface, promoting interfacial charge separation. Moreover, the incorporation of Co produces abundant Ni3+ and oxygen vacancies (Ov) that act as active sites to accelerate the OER kinetics, synergistically contributing to a major enhancement of PEC water oxidation activity. Encouragingly, by connecting the Ni0.9Fe0.05Co0.05/p+n-Si photoanode to an inexpensive Si solar cell, an integrated photovoltaic/PEC (PV/PEC) device achieved a solar-to-hydrogen conversion efficiency of as high as 12.0% without bias. This work provides a facile approach to design efficient and stable n-Si-based photoanodes with a deep understanding of the structure–activity relationship, which exhibits great potential for the integration of low-cost PV/PEC devices for unassisted solar-driven water splitting. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-11T21:24:54Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-7207448f086d43a8832e77ebf3a863d1 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2095-8099 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-11T21:24:54Z |
| publishDate | 2023-06-01 |
| publisher | Elsevier |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Engineering |
| spelling | doaj.art-7207448f086d43a8832e77ebf3a863d12023-09-28T05:25:41ZengElsevierEngineering2095-80992023-06-0125128137Achieving 12.0% Solar-to-Hydrogen Efficiency with a Trimetallic-Layer-Protected and Catalyzed Silicon Photoanode Coupled with an Inexpensive Silicon Solar CellLingyun He0Xin Hong1Yiqing Wang2Zhonghang Xing3Jiafeng Geng4Penghui Guo5Jinzhan Su6Shaohua Shen7International Research Center for Renewable Energy, State Key Laboratory of Multiphase Flow in Power Engineering, Xi’an Jiaotong University, Xi’an 710049, ChinaInternational Research Center for Renewable Energy, State Key Laboratory of Multiphase Flow in Power Engineering, Xi’an Jiaotong University, Xi’an 710049, ChinaInternational Research Center for Renewable Energy, State Key Laboratory of Multiphase Flow in Power Engineering, Xi’an Jiaotong University, Xi’an 710049, ChinaInternational Research Center for Renewable Energy, State Key Laboratory of Multiphase Flow in Power Engineering, Xi’an Jiaotong University, Xi’an 710049, ChinaInternational Research Center for Renewable Energy, State Key Laboratory of Multiphase Flow in Power Engineering, Xi’an Jiaotong University, Xi’an 710049, ChinaInternational Research Center for Renewable Energy, State Key Laboratory of Multiphase Flow in Power Engineering, Xi’an Jiaotong University, Xi’an 710049, ChinaInternational Research Center for Renewable Energy, State Key Laboratory of Multiphase Flow in Power Engineering, Xi’an Jiaotong University, Xi’an 710049, ChinaCorresponding author.; International Research Center for Renewable Energy, State Key Laboratory of Multiphase Flow in Power Engineering, Xi’an Jiaotong University, Xi’an 710049, Chinan-Type silicon (n-Si), with surface easily oxidized and passivated in an aqueous electrolyte, has suffered from sluggish oxygen evolution reaction (OER) kinetics for photoelectrochemical (PEC) water splitting. Herein, a trimetallic Ni0.9Fe0.05Co0.05 protective layer is successfully electrodeposited on a p+n-Si substrate by underpotential deposition. The prepared Ni0.9Fe0.05Co0.05/p+n-Si photoanode exhibits excellent stability and activity for PEC water oxidation, with a low onset potential of 0.938 V versus a reversible hydrogen electrode (RHE) and a remarkable photocurrent density of about 33.1 mA∙cm−2 at 1.23 V versus RHE, which significantly outperforms the Ni/p+n-Si photoanode as a reference. It is revealed that the incorporation of Fe into the Ni layer creates a large band bending at the Ni0.9Fe0.05Co0.05/p+n-Si interface, promoting interfacial charge separation. Moreover, the incorporation of Co produces abundant Ni3+ and oxygen vacancies (Ov) that act as active sites to accelerate the OER kinetics, synergistically contributing to a major enhancement of PEC water oxidation activity. Encouragingly, by connecting the Ni0.9Fe0.05Co0.05/p+n-Si photoanode to an inexpensive Si solar cell, an integrated photovoltaic/PEC (PV/PEC) device achieved a solar-to-hydrogen conversion efficiency of as high as 12.0% without bias. This work provides a facile approach to design efficient and stable n-Si-based photoanodes with a deep understanding of the structure–activity relationship, which exhibits great potential for the integration of low-cost PV/PEC devices for unassisted solar-driven water splitting.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2095809923001984n-Type SiPhotoanodeWater splittingPhotovoltaic/photoelectrochemical device |
| spellingShingle | Lingyun He Xin Hong Yiqing Wang Zhonghang Xing Jiafeng Geng Penghui Guo Jinzhan Su Shaohua Shen Achieving 12.0% Solar-to-Hydrogen Efficiency with a Trimetallic-Layer-Protected and Catalyzed Silicon Photoanode Coupled with an Inexpensive Silicon Solar Cell Engineering n-Type Si Photoanode Water splitting Photovoltaic/photoelectrochemical device |
| title | Achieving 12.0% Solar-to-Hydrogen Efficiency with a Trimetallic-Layer-Protected and Catalyzed Silicon Photoanode Coupled with an Inexpensive Silicon Solar Cell |
| title_full | Achieving 12.0% Solar-to-Hydrogen Efficiency with a Trimetallic-Layer-Protected and Catalyzed Silicon Photoanode Coupled with an Inexpensive Silicon Solar Cell |
| title_fullStr | Achieving 12.0% Solar-to-Hydrogen Efficiency with a Trimetallic-Layer-Protected and Catalyzed Silicon Photoanode Coupled with an Inexpensive Silicon Solar Cell |
| title_full_unstemmed | Achieving 12.0% Solar-to-Hydrogen Efficiency with a Trimetallic-Layer-Protected and Catalyzed Silicon Photoanode Coupled with an Inexpensive Silicon Solar Cell |
| title_short | Achieving 12.0% Solar-to-Hydrogen Efficiency with a Trimetallic-Layer-Protected and Catalyzed Silicon Photoanode Coupled with an Inexpensive Silicon Solar Cell |
| title_sort | achieving 12 0 solar to hydrogen efficiency with a trimetallic layer protected and catalyzed silicon photoanode coupled with an inexpensive silicon solar cell |
| topic | n-Type Si Photoanode Water splitting Photovoltaic/photoelectrochemical device |
| url | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2095809923001984 |
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