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Durability Testing of Photoelectrochemical Hydrogen Production under Day/Night Light Cycled Conditions
Author(s) -
Bae Dowon,
Seger Brian,
Hansen Ole,
Vesborg Peter C. K.,
Chorkendorff Ib
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
chemelectrochem
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.182
H-Index - 59
ISSN - 2196-0216
DOI - 10.1002/celc.201800918
Subject(s) - photocathode , photocurrent , photocatalysis , materials science , degradation (telecommunications) , ultraviolet , hydrogen production , ultraviolet light , hydrogen , oxide , titanium dioxide , durability , photochemistry , semiconductor , light intensity , optoelectronics , chemistry , composite material , optics , catalysis , metallurgy , physics , telecommunications , biochemistry , organic chemistry , quantum mechanics , computer science , electron
This work investigates long‐term photoelectrochemical hydrogen evolution (82 days) in 1 M HClO 4 using a TiO 2 :H protected crystalline Si‐based photocathode with metal‐oxide‐semiconductor (MOS) junctions. It is shown that day/night cycling leads to relatively rapid performance degradation while the photocurrent under the continuous light condition is relatively stable. We observed that the performance loss is mainly due to contamination of the catalytically active surface with carbonaceous material. By ultraviolet (UV) light exposure, we also observed that the activity can be restored, most likely due to photocatalytic degradation of organic compounds by the UV light excited TiO 2 protection layer.