The Origin of the Electromotive Force in a Photoelectrochemical Cell Consisting of Two TiO2 Electrodes

摘要

Solar water splitting by molecular-based photoelectrochemical cells (PECs) has attracted considerable attention in recent years. In this context, we recently demonstrated that solar H2 production is effectively promoted in a PEC consisting of a TiO2-based photoanode modified with a polypyridyl ruthenium sensitizer (FTO/TiO2/Ru-qpy) and a TiO2-based cathode modified with a platinum porphyrin H2 evolution catalyst (FTO/TiO2/PtP-py) in the presence of sacrificial electron donor (EDTA) even without applying any external electrical bias.