TERNARY OXIDE SEMICONDUCTOR PHOTOANODES FOR EFFICIENT PHOTOELECTROCHEMICAL WATER SPLITTING

摘要

It is very important to utilize the photoelectrochemical (PEC)neffect, an effect that produces a change in electrode potential in annelectrode/electrolyte system upon irradiation to transform the solarnenergy directly into electrical energy or synthetic fuels such asnhydrogen.1 It is a cost effective, carbon neutral direct method for thenproduction of renewable fuel and energy storage. The researchninterest in this area is centered on the development of new electrodenconfigurations with high efficiency and good stability. Several binarynmetal oxide semiconductor photoelectrodes have been explored fornphotoelectrochemical water oxidation. However, the poornefficiencies resulted from their large band gaps limited theirnapplication for water splitting. The revival of interest in thendevelopment of photoelectrodes is based on production of low visiblenlight active semiconductor electrodes with high surface area, highnefficiency and stability.