Electrochromic solar water splitting using a cathodic WO3 electrocatalyst

Solar water splitting cells.

Energy harvested directly from sunlight offers a desirable approach toward fulfilling, with minimal environmental impact, the need for clean energy. Solar energy is a decentralized and inexhaustible natural resource, with the magnitude of the available solar power striking the earth’s surface at any one instant equal to 130 million 500 MW power plants.1 However, several important goals need to ...

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...

Electrocatalyst decorated hematite nanowire arrays for photoelectrochemical water splitting

Shining a light on solar water splitting.

www.sciencemag.org SCIENCE VOL 344 2 MAY 2014 COVER A blood star (Henricia leviuscula) near Whidbey Island, Washington state. It is one of 10 species of sea star that appear to be affected by a mysterious wasting syndrome on the west and east coasts of North America. Various levels of mortality have been confi rmed in 10 other species, making this the largest documented die-off of echinoderms. ...

Improved photoelectrochemical water oxidation by the WO3/CuWO4 composite with a manganese phosphate electrocatalyst.

We describe a composite of the n-type semiconductors for the photoelectrochemical oxygen evolution reaction (OER). A simple drop-casting technique of mixed precursors and a one-step annealing process were used in the synthesis of the WO3/CuWO4 composite. The composite showed improved photocurrent for water oxidation compared to either of the two compounds individually. We discuss possible elect...