A sensitivity analysis to assess the relative importance of improvements in electrocatalysts, light absorbers, and system geometry on the efficiency of solar-fuels generators

摘要

A sensitivity analysis has been performed for a variety of generic designs for solar-fuels generators. The analysis has revealed the relative importance of reductions in the overpotentials of electro-catalysts, of improvements in the materials properties of light absorbers, and of optimization in the system geometry for various different types of solar-fuels generators, while considering operation at a range of temperatures as well as under a variety of illumination intensities including up to 10-fold optical concentration.