Construction of Heterostructured Sn/TiO₂/Si Photocathode for Efficient Photoelectrochemical CO₂Reduction

Abstract

Using renewable energy to convert CO2 into liquid products, as a sustainable way to produce fuels and chemicals, has attracted intense attention. Herein, a novel heterostructured photocathode composed of Si wafer, TiO2 layer, and Sn metal particles has been successfully fabricated by combining of a facile hydrothermal and electrodeposition method. The obtained Sn/TiO2/Si photocathode shows enhanced light absorption performance by the surface plasmon resonance effect of Sn metal. Especially, the Sn/TiO2/Si photocathode together with rich oxygen vacancy defects jointly promote photoelectrochemical CO2 reduction, harvesting a high faradaic efficiency of HCOOH and a desirable average current density (−4.72 mA cm−2) at −1.0 V vs. reversible hydrogen electrode. Significantly, the photocathode Sn/TiO2/Si also shows good stability due to the design of protecting layer TiO2. This study provides a facile strategy of constructing an efficient photocathode to improve the light absorption performance and the electron transfer efficiency, exhibiting great potential in the CO2 reduction.

Modulating the Cu2O Photoelectrode/Electrolyte Interface with Bilayer Surfactant Simulating Cell Membranes for Boosting Photoelectrochemical CO2 Reduction

“…The comparison shows that the yield of the Cu 2 O/Sn/DHAB photoelectrode is better than those of most of the currently reported photoelectrodes whose product is HCOOH (Figure g and Table S1). − …”

Tailoring co-catalysts on Si photocathodes for efficient photoelectrochemical CO2 reduction: recent progress and prospects of deposition methods

“…Photo/ electrodeposition provides a straightforward catalyst deposition technique that is well-matched for applications in PEC CO 2 RR. 36,[59][60][61][62][63][64][65][66][67][68][69][70][71][72][73][74][75] In the following sections, we explore recent and noteworthy research in the field of PEC CO 2 RR employing various co-catalysts organized by the types of reduction products generated. In addition, we categorized representative research papers, considering the methods of co-catalyst deposition, which encompass PVD, drop-casting, and photo/electrodeposition.…”

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

“…[7,8] Si is a desirable photo-absorber for PEC CO 2 RR due to its low cost and narrow-band gap (1.12 eV) that allows panchromatic light harvesting. [9,10] The Si-based photocathode is commonly configured with the p-type Si (p-Si) substrate and an n-type large-band-gap layer on top, which provides the platform for catalyst immobilization. [11,12] The entire electrode forms a p-n junction that largely favors the separation of long-lived charges.…”