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Tantalum oxide and titanium dioxide protect solar cells for carbon monoxide reduction. A specific layer combination with copper nanocubes achieved 24% efficiency in converting CO to ethylene, avoiding hydrogen evolution.

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Area of Science:

  • Materials Science
  • Electrochemistry
  • Photocatalysis

Background:

  • Commercial GaInP/GaAs/Ge triple-junction solar cells require protective layers for photoelectrochemical applications.
  • Efficient conversion of carbon monoxide (CO) to valuable products like ethylene is a key challenge in sustainable chemistry.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the role of tantalum oxide (TaO) and titanium dioxide (TiO2) as protective layers for solar cell-based photoelectrochemical CO reduction.
  • To optimize the photoelectrode structure for selective CO-to-ethylene conversion using nanostructured copper.

Main Methods:

  • Fabrication of photoelectrodes using GaInP/GaAs/Ge solar cells with varying TaO and TiO2 protection layers.
  • Decoration of photoelectrodes with 150 nm copper nanocubes.
  • Photoelectrochemical testing in a flow reactor under AM1.5G illumination.
  • Post-operando analysis using X-ray photoemission spectroscopy and ion-scattering spectroscopy.

Main Results:

  • A photoelectrode with 150 nm TiO2 capped with 8 nm TaO and decorated with 150 nm copper nanocubes achieved a 24% Faradaic efficiency for CO to ethylene conversion.
  • Direct attachment of copper nanocubes to TiO2 without TaO resulted in significant hydrogen evolution and no CO reduction.
  • Spectroscopic analysis ruled out TiO2 redox changes or H intercalation, suggesting preferential redeposition of smaller Cu nanoparticles as a cause for lost selectivity.

Conclusions:

  • The combination of TaO and TiO2 as protective layers is crucial for achieving selective photoelectrochemical CO reduction to ethylene.
  • The presence of TaO suppresses the competing hydrogen evolution reaction on TiO2-supported copper nanocubes.
  • This study demonstrates a promising approach for solar-driven CO utilization using optimized semiconductor-metal heterostructures.