A molecular tandem cell for efficient solar water splitting

Integrating a Semitransparent, Fullerene-Free Organic Solar Cell in Tandem with a BiVO4 Photoanode for Unassisted Solar Water Splitting.

We report an unassisted solar water splitting system powered by a diketopyrrolopyrrole (DPP)-containing semitransparent organic solar cell. Two major merits of this fullerene-free solar cell enable its integration with a BiVO4 photoanode. First is the high open circuit voltage and high fill factor displayed by this single junction solar cell, which yields sufficient power to effect water splitt...

Efficient solar-driven water splitting by nanocone BiVO4-perovskite tandem cells

Bismuth vanadate (BiVO4) has been widely regarded as a promising photoanode material for photoelectrochemical (PEC) water splitting because of its low cost, its high stability against photocorrosion, and its relatively narrow band gap of 2.4 eV. However, the achieved performance of the BiVO4 photoanode remains unsatisfactory to date because its short carrier diffusion length restricts the total...

Single-crystalline, wormlike hematite photoanodes for efficient solar water splitting

A hematite photoanode showing a stable, record-breaking performance of 4.32 mA/cm² photoelectrochemical water oxidation current at 1.23 V vs. RHE under simulated 1-sun (100 mW/cm²) irradiation is reported. This photocurrent corresponds to ca. 34% of the maximum theoretical limit expected for hematite with a band gap of 2.1 V. The photoanode produced stoichiometric hydrogen and oxygen gases in a...

Plasmonic nanoparticle-semiconductor composites for efficient solar water splitting

Efficient solar water-splitting using a nanocrystalline CoO photocatalyst.

The generation of hydrogen from water using sunlight could potentially form the basis of a clean and renewable source of energy. Various water-splitting methods have been investigated previously, but the use of photocatalysts to split water into stoichiometric amounts of H2 and O2 (overall water splitting) without the use of external bias or sacrificial reagents is of particular interest becaus...