Metal chalcogenide-based photoelectrodes for photoelectrochemical water splitting

A chemist's guide to photoelectrode development for water splitting – the importance of molecular precursor design

“…306 Fabrication can be achieved through dualsource depositions, using one metal-containing precursor and one sulfur/selenium/tellurium containing precursor. 108,306,307 While this has proven effective, it carries the same dual-source issues discussed at the start of the section, higher amounts of impurity, and greater material costs and precursor synthesis times, as well as issues related to highly reactive precursor species such as metal alkyls and H 2 S. The development of SSPs for direct deposition of metal chalcogenides is therefore of key interest for increasing the viability of such materials in PEC water splitting photoelectrodes. All reports of metal chalcogenide precursors specifically for PEC water splitting are listed in Table 6, although it is obvious that this is also a mostly unexplored area with lots of research potential.…”

2D layered double hydroxides and transition metal dichalcogenides for applications in the electrochemical production of renewable hydrogen

“…14 Among these emerging materials two-dimensional (2D) materials have attracted significant attention due to their unique electronic, optical, and catalytic properties, as well as their exceptional surface-to-volume ratios. 15,16 In particular, the transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs), 17,18 and layered double hydroxides (LDHs) 19,20 have shown excellent potential as noble metal-free electrocatalysts for water splitting, since these materials are cost-effective, easily accessible, with facile fabrication methods. Additionally, they are abundant and rich in resources compared to the noble metal-based systems.…”

Porous Zn1–xCdxSe/ZnO Nanorod Photoanode Fabricated from ZnO Building Blocks Grown on Zn Foil for Photoelectrochemical Solar Hydrogen Production

“…The production of hydrogen as a clean fuel using hybrid semiconductors is broadly studied as a potential way to reduce the environmental pollution triggered by fossil fuel combustion. , Photoelectrochemical (PEC) hydrogen generation through the direct conversion of solar energy into hydrogen energy has attracted great attention. , Recently, various types of one-dimensional (1D) metal oxide semiconductors (ZnO, BiVO 4 , TiO 2 , and WO 3 ) have been used for the utilization of hydrogen energy through the PEC method. − Among them, ZnO is a suitable metal oxide semiconductor candidate due to its superior stability and conductivity, but it has limits due to large bandgap and electron–hole recombination . Therefore, coupling of metal oxide with other narrow bandgap chalcogenide semiconductors (CdS, CdSe, and CdTe) could enhance charge generation, reduce the recombination rate, and improve the PEC hydrogen production performance. − Among them, CdSe has received the most attention in the past years due to its narrow bandgap (1.8 eV) and excellent PEC photocurrent density. , However, conventional metal chalcogenides are more difficult to manage in terms of geometrical size and shape than organic compounds . Consequently, a novel class of inorganic–organic hybrid materials formed by fusing an organic component with an inorganic building block has attracted considerable interest. , An innovative organic–inorganic hybrid material shows a significant quantum confinement effect with a precise periodic arrangement but suffers from poor PEC properties due to a wide bandgap .…”