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The Evolution of Silica Nanoparticle-polyester Coatings on Surfaces Exposed to Sunlight
Published on: October 11, 2016
Durable hydrogen evolution from water driven by sunlight using (Ag,Cu)GaSe2 photocathodes modified with CdS and
Li Zhang1, Tsutomu Minegishi1, Mamiko Nakabayashi2
1Department of Chemical System Engineering , The University of Tokyo , 7-3-1 Hongo , Bunkyo-ku , Tokyo 113-8656 , Japan . Email: domen@chemsys.t.u-tokyo.ac.jp ; ; Tel: +81-3-5841-1652.
Abstract:
The photoelectrochemical properties of (Ag,Cu)GaSe2 (ACGSe) modified by deposition of CdS and CuGa3Se5 layers were investigated. The CdS and CuGa3Se5 layers formed p-n junctions with an appropriate band diagram on the surface of the electrode and they clearly increased the cathodic photocurrent and onset potential. The Pt, CdS, and CuGa3Se5 modified ACGSe (Pt/CdS/CuGa3Se5/ACGSe) with an appropriate thickness of CuGa3Se5 layers (ca. 100 nm) showed a cathodic photocurrent of 8.79 mA cm-2 at 0 VRHE and an onset potential of 0.62 VRHE (defined as cathodic photocurrent of 1.0 mA cm-2) under simulated sunlight irradiation in 0.1 M Na2HPO4 (pH 10). Pt/CdS/CuGa3Se5/ACGSe showed durable cathodic current under the observed reaction conditions and hydrogen was evolved for about 20 days.
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