Resumo (PT):
Abstract (EN):
Photoelectrochemical water splitting represents an attractive method of capturing and storing
the immense energy of sunlight in the form of hydrogen, a clean chemical fuel. Given the large
energetic demand of water electrolysis, and the defined spectrum of photons available from incident
sunlight, a two absorber tandem device is required to achieve high efficiencies. The two
absorbers should beofdifferentandcomplementary bandgaps, connected in series to achieve the
necessary voltage, and arranged in an optical stack configuration to maximize the utilization of
sunlight.This latterrequirement demands atop device that is responsive to high-energy photons
but also transparent to lower-energy photons, which pass through to illuminate the bottom absorber.
Here, cuprous oxide (Cu2O) is employed as a top absorber component, and the factors influencing
the balance between transparencyandefficiency towardoperationinatandem configurationare
studied. Photocathodes based on Cu2O electrodeposited onto conducting glass substrates
treated with thin, discontinuous layers of gold achieve reasonable sub-bandgap transmittance
while retaining performances comparable to their opaque counterparts. This new high-performance
transparent photo- cathode is demonstrated in tandem with a hybrid perovskite photovoltaic cell,
resulting in a full device capable of standalone sunlight-driven water splitting.
Idioma:
Inglês
Tipo (Avaliação Docente):
Científica
Nº de páginas:
19