Resonant light trapping in ultrathin films for water splitting

Dotan, Hen; Kfir, Ofer; Sharlin, Elad; Blank, Oshri; Gross, Moran; Dumchin, Irina; Ankonina, Guy; Rothschild, Avner

doi:10.1038/nmat3477

Cited by 312 publications

(373 citation statements)

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“…In other words, α-Fe 2 O 3 needs to be a few hundred nanometers thick in order to absorb the entire incident light but, as a main drawback, the photogenerated electron-hole pairs would undergo massive bulk recombination within a few nanometers. This is well represented in Figure 3D, which shows the predicted internal quantum efficiency distribution as a function of film thickness and depth for α-Fe 2 O 3 photoanodes [80]. Only photons that are absorbed in the first 10 nm of α-Fe 2 O 3 are efficiently converted in photocurrent (measured as OER) due to the drastic recombination occurring in the bulk of the film.…”

Section: Plasmon-enhanced Water Splittingmentioning

confidence: 55%

“…Dotan et al [80] have demonstrated that by using an Ag mirror underneath α-Fe 2 O 3 film, the photocurrent could be enhanced 3 times in comparison to that of the bare film. The metallic film enabled the resonant light trapping into the α-Fe 2 O 3 film, where light could be efficiently trapped and one phonon absorbed several times from the semiconductor film.…”

Section: Semiconductor Photoelectrodesmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Solar-Powered Plasmon-Enhanced Heterogeneous Catalysis

et al. 2016

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Photocatalysis uses semiconductors to convert sunlight into chemical energy. Recent reports have shown that plasmonic nanostructures can be used to extend semiconductor light absorption or to drive direct photocatalysis with visible light at their surface. In this review, we discuss the fundamental decay pathway of localized surface plasmons in the context of driving solar-powered chemical reactions. We also review different nanophotonic approaches demonstrated for increasing solar-tohydrogen conversion in photoelectrochemical water splitting, including experimental observations of enhanced reaction selectivity for reactions occurring at the metalsemiconductor interface. The enhanced reaction selectivity is highly dependent on the morphology, electronic properties, and spatial arrangement of composite nanostructures and their elements. In addition, we report on the particular features of photocatalytic reactions evolving at plasmonic metal surfaces and discuss the possibility of manipulating the reaction selectivity through the activation of targeted molecular bonds. Finally, using solar-tohydrogen conversion techniques as an example, we quantify the efficacy metrics achievable in plasmon-driven photoelectrochemical systems and highlight some of the new directions that could lead to the practical implementation of solar-powered plasmon-based catalytic devices.

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Section: Plasmon-enhanced Water Splittingmentioning

confidence: 55%

Section: Semiconductor Photoelectrodesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Solar-Powered Plasmon-Enhanced Heterogeneous Catalysis

et al. 2016

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“…4,[11][12][13] Thus the primary focus of researchers in this eld is to engineer materials for more efficient solar energy conversion to chemical fuel.…”

Section: 8mentioning

confidence: 99%

Enhanced photoelectrochemical water-splitting performance of semiconductors by surface passivation layers

Zheng

Spurgeon

et al. 2014

Energy Environ. Sci.

542

439

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An important approach for solving the world's sustainable energy challenges is the conversion of solar energy to chemical fuels. Semiconductors can be used to convert/store solar energy to chemical bonds in an energy-dense fuel. Photoelectrochemical (PEC) water-splitting cells, with semiconductor electrodes, use sunlight and water to generate hydrogen. Herein, recent studies on improving the efficiency of semiconductor-based solar water-splitting devices by the introduction of surface passivation layers are reviewed. We show that passivation layers have been used as an effective strategy to improve the charge-separation and transfer processes across semiconductor-liquid interfaces, and thereby increase overall solar energy conversion efficiencies. We also summarize the demonstrated passivation effects brought by these thin layers, which include reducing charge recombination at surface states, increasing the reaction kinetics, and protecting the semiconductor from chemical corrosion.These benefits of passivation layers play a crucial role in achieving highly efficient water-splitting devices in the near future. Broader contextSemiconductor interface is one of the most important components/regions in photoelectrochemical (PEC) water splitting devices. The serious surface charge recombination, slow charge transfer kinetics and the poor photoelectrochemical stability are the three main challenges for the practical PEC water splitting devices. Recently, the studies of constructing passivation layer onto the semiconductor to address these challenges have attracted increasing research attentions, due to the potential application of solar to chemical energy conversion. When these layers incorporated onto semiconductor surface, signicant changes of the interface would be found including charge transfer improvement, surface charge recombination, and chemical corrosion, etc. Although various strategies have been suggested for this surface modication, a synergetic effect must be achieved on an advanced photoelectrodes accounting for the improved solar-tohydrogen efficiencies. This review will shed light on the recent PEC water splitting work surface state passivation, corrosion retardation and charge transfer improvement in this passivation layer.

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“…Among the nanoparticle-based electrodes used in solar water splitting, α-Fe 2 O 3 (hematite) has emerged as one of the most promising materials [12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23] . Hematite is attracting broad interest for use in water photoelectrolysis for hydrogen production because iron is one of the least expensive and most abundant metals and hematite has a high theoretical solar-to-hydrogen conversion efficiency of 14 to 17%, which corresponds to a photocurrent of 11 to 14 mA cm -2 24 .…”

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confidence: 99%

Identifying champion nanostructures for solar water-splitting

et al. 2013

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Citation for published item:rrenD FgF nd o¤ %t hovskyD uF nd hot nD rF nd veroyD gFwF nd gornuzD wF nd tell iD pF nd r¡ e ertD gF nd oths hildD eF nd qr¤ tzelD wF @PHIQA 9sdentifying h mpion n nostru tures for sol r w terEsplittingF9D x ture m teri lsFD IP @WAF ppF VRPEVRWF Further information on publisher's website: httpXGGdxFdoiForgGIHFIHQVGnm tQTVR Publisher's copyright statement: Use policyThe full-text may be used and/or reproduced, and given to third parties in any format or medium, without prior permission or charge, for personal research or study, educational, or not-for-pro t purposes provided that:• a full bibliographic reference is made to the original source • a link is made to the metadata record in DRO • the full-text is not changed in any way The full-text must not be sold in any format or medium without the formal permission of the copyright holders.Please consult the full DRO policy for further details. Charge transport in nanoparticle-based materials underlies many emerging energy conversion technologies, yet assessing the impact of nanometer-scale structure on charge transport across micron-scale distances remains a challenge. Here we develop an approach for correlating the spatial distribution of crystalline and current-carrying domains in entire nanoparticle aggregates. We apply this approach to nanoparticle-based α-Fe 2 O 3 electrodes that are of interest in solar-to-hydrogen energy conversion. In correlating structure and charge transport with nanometer resolution across micron-scale distances, we have identified the existence of champion nanoparticle aggregates that are most responsible for the high photoelectrochemical activity of the present electrodes. Indeed, when electrodes are fabricated with a high proportion of these champion nanostructures, the electrodes achieve the highest photocurrent of any metal oxide photoanode for photoelectrochemical water splitting under 100 mW cm -2 air mass 1.5 global sunlight.Batteries, fuel cells, and solar energy conversion devices have emerged as a class of important technologies that increasingly rely upon electrodes derived from nanoparticles 1 . These nanoparticle-based materials provide a unique challenge in assessing structure-property relationships because of the disordered arrangement of nanocrystals that results when nanoparticles collide and aggregate [2][3][4][5][6] . The morphological evolution that follows aggregation further obscures the influence of particle size, shape, and interfacial characteristics in defining the physical properties of these materials 7,8 . For the nanoparticle-based electrodes used in solar energy conversion, structural defects such as grain boundaries define pathways for charge transport by creating potential barriers and by promoting recombination 9 . Because of the complexity of these materials, within a single electrode there may exist a small proportion of "champion" nanostructures-by analogy with champion solar cells 10,11 , these are nanostructures that provide the highest solar conversion efficiencies-th...

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Resonant light trapping in ultrathin films for water splitting

Cited by 312 publications

References 38 publications

Solar-Powered Plasmon-Enhanced Heterogeneous Catalysis

Solar-Powered Plasmon-Enhanced Heterogeneous Catalysis

Enhanced photoelectrochemical water-splitting performance of semiconductors by surface passivation layers

Identifying champion nanostructures for solar water-splitting

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