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Photoelectrochemical Characterisation on Surface‐Inverted Black Silicon Photocathodes by Using Platinum/Palladium Co‐catalysts for Solar‐to‐Hydrogen Conversion
Author(s) -
Halima Ahmed Farid,
Zhang Xinyi,
MacFarlane Douglas Robert
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
chempluschem
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.801
H-Index - 61
ISSN - 2192-6506
DOI - 10.1002/cplu.201800097
Subject(s) - materials science , photocurrent , silicon , palladium , platinum , photocathode , hydrogen , common emitter , anode , optoelectronics , electrochemistry , energy conversion efficiency , catalysis , nanotechnology , hydrogen production , black silicon , electrode , chemistry , physics , organic chemistry , biochemistry , quantum mechanics , electron
Black silicon (bSi) has recently captured research attention in photoelectrochemical (PEC) solar‐to‐hydrogen (STH) conversion devices. Because nanostructuring of silicon retains the photovoltaic attributes of the material, it also provides a range of excellent physicochemical properties, such as a vast active‐site‐rich electrochemical interface, owing to a high aspect ratio, and important light‐scattering attributes, which significantly improve photoconversion. One method to gain control over p‐type bSi interface energetics is surface inversion of the p‐type interface by phosphorus doping to introduce a shallow n + ‐emitter layer, which provides a thin p–n junction at the interface of the nanostructures. Although this concept has been suggested in the literature, it has not been demonstrated experimentally for a platinum/palladium co‐catalysed bSi photocathode device for STH conversion. Herein, preliminary investigations and proof‐of‐concept studies are reported for the fabrication and PEC characterisation of surface‐inverted p‐type bSi photocathodes prepared by wet chemical etching. The PEC tests on p‐bSi|n + photocathodes show that, for both metal nanoparticles (Pt and Pd), the catalytic activity for proton conversion is increased; this is evident from an anodic shift in the onset potentials shifts to 0.24 and 0.29 V and an increase in photocurrent by 9 and 13.8 mA cm −2 , respectively, at 0 V versus a reversible hydrogen electrode, as a result of introducing the emitter layer.