Durability Testing of Photoelectrochemical Hydrogen Production under Day/Night Light Cycled Conditions. Issue 1 (13th September 2018)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Bae, Dowon; Seger, Brian; Hansen, Ole; Vesborg, Peter C. K.; Chorkendorff, Ib
• Is Part Of: ChemElectroChem. Volume 6:Issue 1(2019)
• Page Start: 106
• Page End: 109
• Publication Date: 2018-09-13
• Subjects: energy conversion -- hydrogen evolution reaction -- PECs -- titanium oxide -- water splitting; Electrochemistry -- Periodicals; 541.37
• DOI: 10.1002/celc.201800918
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 2196-0216

Abstract

Abstract: This work investigates long‐term photoelectrochemical hydrogen evolution (82 days) in 1 M HClO4 using a TiO2 :H protected crystalline Si‐based photocathode with metal‐oxide‐semiconductor (MOS) junctions. It is shown that day/night cycling leads to relatively rapid performance degradation while the photocurrent under the continuous light condition is relatively stable. We observed that the performance loss is mainly due to contamination of the catalytically active surface with carbonaceous material. By ultraviolet (UV) light exposure, we also observed that the activity can be restored, most likely due to photocatalytic degradation of organic compounds by the UV light excited TiO2 protection layer. Abstract : Extremely reliable PEC H2 production : A TiO2 :H protected c‐Si photocathode with metal‐oxide‐semiconductor junctions exhibits long‐term hydrogen evolution performance (82 days) in 1 M HClO4 under continuous and day/night cyclic illumination conditions. Characterization of the sample reveals a carbon contaminant leading to activity loss which is easily removed by UV light exposure.