Sulfidation-Induced Surface Local Electronic and Atomic Structures in a Silver Catalyst Enables Silicon Photocathode for Selective and Efficient Photoelectrochemical CO2 Reduction.

Converting CO2 to value-added chemicals through a photoelectrochemical (PEC) system is a creative approach toward renewable energy utilization and storage. However, the rational design of appropriate catalysts while being effectively integrated with semiconductor photoelectrodes remains a considerable challenge for achieving single-carbon products with high efficiency. Herein, we demonstrate a novel sulfidation-induced strategy for in situ grown sulfide-derived Ag nanowires on a Si photocathode (denoted as SD-Ag/Si) based on the standard crystalline Si solar cells. Such an exquisite design of the SD-Ag/Si photocathode not only provides a large electrochemically active surface area but also endows abundant active sites of Ag2S/Ag interfaces and high-index Ag facets for PEC CO production. The optimized SD-Ag/Si photocathode displays an ideal CO Faradic efficiency of 95.2% and an onset potential of +0.26 V versus the reversible hydrogen electrode, ascribed to the sulfidation-induced synergistic effect of the surface atomic arrangement and electronic structure in Ag catalysts that promote charge transfer, facilitate CO2 adsorption and activation, and suppress hydrogen evolution reaction. This sulfidation-induced strategy represents a scalable approach for designing high-performance catalysts for electrochemical and PEC devices with efficient CO2 utilization.

Covalently Grafting Graphene onto Si Photocathode to Expedite Aqueous Photoelectrochemical CO2 Reduction.

Silicon semiconductor functionalized with molecular catalysts emerges as a promising cathode for photoelectrochemical (PEC) CO2 reduction reaction (CO2 RR). However, the limited kinetics and stabilities remains a major hurdle for the development of such composites. We herein report an assembling strategy of silicon photocathodes via chemically grafting a conductive graphene layer onto the surface of n+ -p Si followed by catalyst immobilization. The covalently-linked graphene layer effectively enhances the photogenerated carriers transfer between the cathode and the reduction catalyst, and improves the operating stability of the electrode. Strikingly, we demonstrate that altering the stacking configuration of the immobilized cobalt tetraphenylporphyrin (CoTPP) catalyst through calcination can further enhance the electron transfer rate and the PEC performance. At the end, the graphene-coated Si cathode immobilized with CoTPP catalyst managed to sustain a stable 1-Sun photocurrent of -1.65 mA cm-2 over 16 h for CO production in water at a near neutral potential of -0.1 V vs. reversible hydrogen electrode. This represents a remarkable improvement of PEC CO2 RR performance in contrast to the reported photocathodes functionalized with molecular catalysts.

Renewable formate from sunlight, biomass and carbon dioxide in a photoelectrochemical cell.

The sustainable production of chemicals and fuels from abundant solar energy and renewable carbon sources provides a promising route to reduce climate-changing CO2 emissions and our dependence on fossil resources. Here, we demonstrate solar-powered formate production from readily available biomass wastes and CO2 feedstocks via photoelectrochemistry. Non-precious NiOOH/α-Fe2O3 and Bi/GaN/Si wafer were used as photoanode and photocathode, respectively. Concurrent photoanodic biomass oxidation and photocathodic CO2 reduction towards formate with high Faradaic efficiencies over 85% were achieved at both photoelectrodes. The integrated biomass-CO2 photoelectrolysis system reduces the cell voltage by 32% due to the thermodynamically favorable biomass oxidation over conventional water oxidation. Moreover, we show solar-driven formate production with a record-high yield of 23.3 µmol cm-2 h-1 as well as high robustness using the hybrid photoelectrode system. The present work opens opportunities for sustainable chemical and fuel production using abundant and renewable resources on earth-sunlight, biomass and CO2.

Self-Enhancing Photoelectrochemical Properties in van der Waals Ferroelectric CuInP2S6 by Photoassisted Acid Hydrolysis.

Transition metal thiophosphate, CuInP2S6 (CIPS), has recently emerged as a potentially promising material for photoelectrochemical (PEC) water splitting due to its intrinsic ferroelectric polarization for spontaneous photocarrier separation. However, the poor kinetics of the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) greatly limits its practical applications. Herein, we report self-enhancing photocatalytic behavior of a CIPS photocathode due to chemically driven oxygen incorporation by photoassisted acid oxidation. The optimal oxygen-doped CIPS demonstrates a >1 order of magnitude enhancement in the photocurrent density compared to that of pristine CIPS. Through comprehensive spectroscopic and microscopic investigations combined with theoretical calculations, we disclose that oxygen doping will lower the Fermi level position and decrease the HER barrier, which further accelerates charge separation and improves the HER activity. This work may deliver a universal and facile strategy for improving the PEC performance of other van der Waals metal thiophosphates.

Cupric porphyrin frameworks on multi-junction silicon photocathodes to expedite the kinetics of CO2 turnover.

Photoelectrochemical CO2 reduction utilizing silicon-based photocathodes offers a promising route to directly store solar energy in chemical bonds, provoking the development of heterogeneous molecular catalysts with high turnover rates. Herein, an in situ surface transformation strategy is adopted to grow metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) on Si-based photocathodes, serving as catalytic scaffolds for boosting both the kinetics and selectivity of CO2 reduction. Benefitting from the multi-junctional configuration for enhanced charge separation and the porous MOF scaffold enriching redox-active metalloporphyrin sites, the Si photocathode demonstrates a high CO faradaic efficiency of 87% at a photocurrent density of 10.2 mA cm-2, which is among the best seen for heterogeneous molecular catalysts. This study highlights the exploitation of reticular chemistry and macrocycle complexes as Earth-abundant alternatives for catalyzing artificial photosynthesis.

Water-plasma-enhanced and phase-separation-assisted extraction of microalgal lipid for biodiesel production.

Traditional methods for lipid extraction from microalgal biomass usually involve harsh reaction conditions or the use of contaminant reagents, which lead to enormous energy consumption and wastage. Hence, a novel strategy was presented, which combined water-plasma and three-phase partitioning (TPP) techniques. Benefiting from its unique advantages such as rapid and low cost, water-plasma strategy can disrupt microalgal cell wall and can thus greatly affect lipid extraction. As a result, assisted with the TPP method, excellent performance lipid recovery (74.34%) was obtained at 200 W in 10 min. The performance was superior to that achieved through cell disruption via water-plasma pretreatment. Importantly, the whole process of lipid extraction prevented the drying of microalgal biomass, contributing to reduced energy consumption in large-scale biodiesel production. Moreover, the high fatty acids content suggested that the extracted lipids are great potential candidate for biodiesel production.

Steering the Pathway of Plasmon-Enhanced Photoelectrochemical CO2 Reduction by Bridging Si and Au Nanoparticles through a TiO2 Interlayer.

Photoelectrochemical (PEC) conversion of CO2 in an aqueous medium into high-energy fuels is a creative strategy for storing solar energy and closing the anthropogenic carbon cycle. However, the rational design of catalytic architectures to selectively and efficiently produce a target product such as CO has remained a grand challenge. Herein, an efficient and selective Si photocathode for CO production is reported by utilizing a TiO2 interlayer to bridge the Au nanoparticles and n+ p-Si. The TiO2 interlayer can not only effectively protect and passivate Si surface, but can also exhibit outstanding synergies with Au nanoparticles to greatly promote CO2 reduction kinetics for CO production through stabilizing the key reaction intermediates. Specifically, the TiO2 layer and Au nanoparticles work concertedly to enhance the separation of localized surface plasmon resonance generated hot carriers, contributing to the improved activity and selectivity for CO production by utilizing the hot electrons generated in Au nanoparticles during PEC CO2 reduction. The optimized Au/TiO2 /n+ p-Si photocathode exhibits a Faradaic efficiency of 86% and a partial current density of -5.52 mA cm-2 at -0.8 VRHE for CO production, which represent state-of-the-art performance in this field. Such a plasmon-enhanced strategy may pave the way for the development of high-performance PEC photocathodes for energy-efficient CO2 utilization.

NiMoFe/Cu nanowire core-shell catalysts for high-performance overall water splitting in neutral electrolytes.

A bifunctional NiMoFe/Cu NW core-shell catalyst assembled into a practical solar-driven overall water splitting system leads to an unprecedented solar-to-hydrogen (STH) efficiency of 10.99% in neutral electrolytes, attributed to the synergic combination of a unique 3D self-supported core-shell architecture and rapid electron/mass transfer properties.

Integration of Oxygen-Vacancy-Rich NiFe-Layered Double Hydroxide onto Silicon as Photoanode for Enhanced Photoelectrochemical Water Oxidation.

Photoelectrochemical (PEC) water splitting has the potential to efficiently convert intermittent solar energy into storable hydrogen fuel. However, poor charge separation and transfer ability as well as sluggish surface oxygen evolution reaction (OER) kinetics of the photoelectrode severely hinder the advance in PEC performance. Herein, a facile electrodeposition method was used to integrate Mo-doped NiFe-layered double hydroxide onto a NiOx /Ni-protected Si photoanode for enhanced PEC water oxidation. Mo doping contributed to an increased amount of oxygen vacancies, whereas a dynamic surface self-reconstruction was induced by Mo leaching under PEC OER conditions. This led to enhanced PEC performance with an onset potential of 0.87 V vs. reversible hydrogen electrode (RHE), a photocurrent density of 39.3 mA cm-2 at 1.23 V vs. RHE, a fill factor of 0.38, and a solar-to-oxygen conversion efficiency of 5.3 %, along with a stability of 130 h continuous PEC reaction. The performance was superior to that of the undoped NiFe-LDH/NiOx /Ni/Si (4.3 %), which was attributed to the elevated interface charge separation, fast charge transfer, and accelerated OER kinetics.

5.1% efficiency of Si photoanodes for photoelectrochemical water splitting catalyzed by porous NiFe (oxy)hydroxide converted from NiFe oxysulfide.

A porous NiFe (oxy)hydroxide catalyst fabricated on n+pp+-Si/Ni/NiOx, which is converted from an electrodeposited NiFe oxysulfide, allows a silicon photoanode for water splitting to hit a record 5.1% efficiency with good stability of up to 135 h under 40 mA cm-2 in 1.0 M NaOH.

Silicon based photoelectrodes for photoelectrochemical water splitting.

Solar water splitting using Si photoelectrodes in photoelectrochemical (PEC) cells offers a promising approach to convert sunlight into sustainable hydrogen energy, which has recently received intense research. This review summarizes the recent advances in the development of efficient and stable Si photoelectrodes for solar water splitting. The definition and representation of efficiency and stability for Si photoelectrodes are firstly introduced. We then present several basic strategies for designing highly efficient and stable Si photoelectrodes, including surface textures, protective layer, catalyst loading and the integration of the system. Finally, we highlight the progress that has been made in Si photocathodes and Si photoanodes, respectively, with emphasis on how to integrate Si with protective layer and catalyst.

A porous Ni-O/Ni/Si photoanode for stable and efficient photoelectrochemical water splitting.

Excellent photoelectrochemical activity was demonstrated for an easily prepared porous Ni-O/Ni/Si photoanode with an onset potential of 0.93 VRHE, a photocurrent of 39.7 mA cm-2 at 1.23 VRHE, an energy conversion efficiency of 3.2% and a stability above 100 h.

11.5% efficiency of TiO2 protected and Pt catalyzed n+np+-Si photocathodes for photoelectrochemical water splitting: manipulating the Pt distribution and Pt/Si contact.

A combination of hydrogen passivation, electroless deposition of a Pt catalyst and coating a TiO2 protective layer leads to an unprecedented 11.5% energy conversion efficiency and one-week stability of an n+np+-Si photocathode for solar water splitting.

Efficient and Stable Silicon Photocathodes Coated with Vertically Standing Nano-MoS2 Films for Solar Hydrogen Production.

Water splitting in a photoelectrochemical cell, which converts sunlight into hydrogen energy, has recently received intense research. Silicon is suitable as a viable light-harvesting material for constructing such cell; however, there is a need to improve its stability and explore a cheap and efficient cocatalyst. Here we fabricate highly efficient and stable photocathodes by integrating crystalline MoS2 catalyst with ∼2 nm Al2O3 protected n+p-Si. Al2O3 acts as a protective and passivative layer of the Si surface, while the sputtering method using a MoS2 target along with a postannealing leads to a vertically standing, conformal, and crystalline nano-MoS2 layer on Al2O3/n+p-Si photocathode. Efficient (0.4 V vs RHE onset potential and 35.6 mA/cm2 saturated photocurrent measured under 100 mA/cm2 Xe lamp illumination) and stable (above 120 h continuous water splitting) photocathode was obtained, which opens the door for the MoS2 catalyst to be applied in photoelectrochemical hydrogen evolution in a facile and scalable way.