Cheng W, Singh N, Elliott W, Lee J, Rassoolkhani A, Jin X, McFarland EW, Mubeen S. Earth-Abundant Tin Sulfide-Based Photocathodes for Solar Hydrogen Production.
ADVANCED SCIENCE (WEINHEIM, BADEN-WURTTEMBERG, GERMANY) 2018;
5:1700362. [PMID:
29375966 PMCID:
PMC5770675 DOI:
10.1002/advs.201700362]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/10/2017] [Revised: 08/30/2017] [Indexed: 06/07/2023]
Abstract
Tin-based chalcogenide semiconductors, though attractive materials for photovoltaics, have to date exhibited poor performance and stability for photoelectrochemical applications. Here, a novel strategy is reported to improve performance and stability of tin monosulfide (SnS) nanoplatelet thin films for H2 production in acidic media without any use of sacrificial reagent. P-type SnS nanoplatelet films are coated with the n-CdS buffer layer and the TiO2 passivation layer to form type II heterojunction photocathodes. These photocathodes with subsequent deposition of Pt nanoparticles generate a photovoltage of 300 mV and a photocurrent density of 2.4 mA cm-2 at 0 V versus reversible hydrogen electrode (RHE) for water splitting under simulated visible-light illumination (λ > 500 nm, Pin = 80 mW cm-2). The incident photon-to-current efficiency at 0 V versus RHE for H2 production reach a maximum of 12.7% at 575 nm with internal quantum efficiency of 13.8%. The faradaic efficiency for hydrogen evolution remains close to unity after 6000 s of illumination, confirming the robustness of the heterojunction for solar H2 production.
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