Seenivasan S, Moon H, Kim DH. Multilayer Strategy for Photoelectrochemical Hydrogen Generation: New Electrode Architecture that Alleviates Multiple Bottlenecks.
NANO-MICRO LETTERS 2022;
14:78. [PMID:
35334000 PMCID:
PMC8956779 DOI:
10.1007/s40820-022-00822-8]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/17/2021] [Accepted: 02/09/2022] [Indexed: 06/14/2023]
Abstract
Years of research have demonstrated that the use of multiple components is essential to the development of a commercial photoelectrode to address specific bottlenecks, such as low charge separation and injection efficiency, low carrier diffusion length and lifetime, and poor durability. A facile strategy for the synthesis of multilayered photoanodes from atomic-layer-deposited ultrathin films has enabled a new type of electrode architecture with a total multilayer thickness of 15-17 nm. We illustrate the advantages of this electrode architecture by using nanolayers to address different bottlenecks, thus producing a multilayer photoelectrode with improved interface kinetics and shorter electron transport path, as determined by interface analyses. The photocurrent density was twice that of the bare structure and reached a maximum of 33.3 ± 2.1 mA cm-2 at 1.23 VRHE. An integrated overall water-splitting cell consisting of an electrocatalytic NiS cathode and Bi2S3/NiS/NiFeO/TiO2 photoanode was used for precious-metal-free seawater splitting at a cell voltage of 1.23 V without degradation. The results and root analyses suggest that the distinctive advantages of the electrode architecture, which are superior to those of bulk bottom-up core-shell and hierarchical architectures, originate from the high density of active sites and nanometer-scale layer thickness, which enhance the suitability for interface-oriented energy conversion processes.
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