Photoelectrochemical
overall water splitting has been considered
as a promising approach for producing chemical energy from solar energy.
Although many photoelectrochemical cells have been developed for overall
water splitting by coupling two semiconductor photoelectrodes, inefficient
charge transfer between the light-harvesters and electron acceptor/donor
severely restricts the solar energy conversion efficiency. Inspired
by natural photosynthesis, we assembled a photoelectrochemical platform
with multimediator modulation to achieve unassisted overall water
splitting. Photogenerated electrons are transferred in order through
multimediators driven by the electrochemical potential gradient, resulting
in efficient charge separation and transportation with enhanced charge
transfer rate and reduced charge recombination rate. The integrated
system composed of inorganic oxide-based photoanode (BiVO4) and organic polymer-based photocathode (PBDB-T:ITIC:PC71BM) with complementary light absorption, exhibits a solar-to-hydrogen
conversion efficiency as high as 4.3%. This work makes a rational
design possible by constructing an efficient charge-transfer chain
in artificial photosynthesis systems for solar fuel production.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.