Premium
Designing Photoelectrodes for Photocatalytic Fuel Cells and Elucidating the Effects of Organic Substrates
Author(s) -
Hu Chenyan,
Kelm Denis,
Schreiner Manuel,
Wollborn Tobias,
Mädler Lutz,
Teoh Wey Yang
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
chemsuschem
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.412
H-Index - 157
eISSN - 1864-564X
pISSN - 1864-5631
DOI - 10.1002/cssc.201500793
Subject(s) - photocurrent , formic acid , photocatalysis , degradation (telecommunications) , methanol , materials science , substrate (aquarium) , sulfuric acid , chemical engineering , open circuit voltage , heterojunction , chemistry , catalysis , inorganic chemistry , organic chemistry , optoelectronics , voltage , computer science , telecommunications , oceanography , engineering , geology , physics , quantum mechanics
Photocatalytic fuel cells (PFCs) are constructed from anodized photoanodes with the aim of effectively converting organic materials into solar electricity. The syntheses of the photoanodes (TiO 2 , WO 3 , and Nb 2 O 5 ) were optimized using the statistical 2 k factorial design. A systematic study was carried out to catalog the influence of eleven types of organic substrate on the photocurrent responses of the photoanodes, showing dependence on the adsorption of the organic substrates and on the associated photocatalytic degradation mechanisms. Strong adsorbates, such as carboxylic acids, generated high photocurrent enhancements. Simple and short‐chained molecules, such as formic acid and methanol, are the most efficient in the corresponding carboxylic acid and alcohol groups as a result of their fast degradation kinetics. The TiO 2 ‐based PFC yielded the highest photocurrent and obtainable power, whereas the Nb 2 O 5 ‐based PFC achieved the highest open‐circuit voltage, which is consistent with its most negative Fermi level.