Extremely stable bare hematite photoanode for solar water splitting

• Type: Article in International Scientific Journal
• Date: 2016

Authors

Paula Dias (Author) FEUP; António Vilanova (Author) FEUP; Tânia Lopes (Author) FEUP; Luísa Andrade (Author) FEUP; Adélio Mendes (Author) FEUP

Journal

Title: Nano Energy

Vol. 23

Pages: 70-79

ISSN: 2211-2855

Publisher: Elsevier

Indexing

ISI Web of Knowledge - 57 Citations

ISI Web of Science

Scopus - 108 Citations

INSPEC

Scientific classification

CORDIS: Technological sciences

Associated Projects

PECDEMO - Photoelectrochemical Demonstrator Device for Solar Hydrogen Generation

LEPABE - Laboratório de Engenharia de Processos, Ambiente, Biotecnologia e Energia

BI-DSC - Building Integrated Dye Sensitized Solar Cells

Other information

Authenticus ID: P-00K-9WA

DOI: 10.1016/j.nanoen.2016.03.008

Abstract (EN): Photoelectrodes that are efficient, highly stable, made from low cost materials and easily prepared using inexpensive techniques are required for commercially viable solar photoelectrochemical (PEC) water splitting technology. Hematite is one of few materials that is being considered for this application. In this work, bare hematite thin films prepared by spray pyrolysis were systematically optimized following a design of experiments approach. A response surface methodology was applied to factors: (i) sprayed volume of solution; (ii) temperature of the glass substrate during the deposition; and (iii) time gap between sprays and the optimized operating conditions obtained were v = 42 mL, T=425 degrees C and t=35 s. The optimized hematite photoelectrode showed a photocurrent density of ca. 0.94 mA cm(-2) at 1.45 V-RHE, without dopants or co-catalysts, which is remarkable for a thin film of ca. 19 nm. The stability of this photoelectrode was assessed over 1000 h of PEC operation under 1-sun of simulated sunlight. A record breaking result was obtained with no evidences of hematite film degradation neither of current density loss. These results open the door to turn PEC cells into a competitive technology in the solar fuel economy.

Language: English

Type (Professor's evaluation): Scientific

No. of pages: 10