Bubble formation and growth on a water-splitting semiconductor photoelectrode under illumination with above-bandgap radiation provide a direct measurement of the gas-evolving reaction rate. Optical microscopy was used to record the bubble growth on single-crystal strontium titanate immersed in basic aqueous electrolyte and illuminated with UV light at 351/364 nm from a focused argon laser. By a...

Vertically aligned TiO(2) nanorod arrays (NRAs) modified with Ag(2)S quantum dots (QDs) have been successfully prepared via a successive ionic layer adsorption and reaction (SILAR) process. Ultraviolet-visible (UV-vis) absorption spectra and surface photovoltage (SPV) measurements reveal that the Ag(2)S sensitization extends the range of the photoresponse of the TiO(2) NRAs to the visible regio...

Crystalline p-type WSe(2) has been grown by a chemical vapor transport method. After deposition of noble metal catalysts, p-WSe(2) photocathodes exhibited thermodynamically based photoelectrode energy-conversion efficiencies of >7% for the hydrogen evolution reaction under mildly acidic conditions, and were stable under cathodic conditions for at least 2 h in acidic as well as in alkaline elect...

The physical and photoelectrochemical properties of a composite oxide photoelectrode comprised of α-Fe2O3 and WO3 crystals is investigated. The composite films exhibit a water oxidation photocurrent onset potential as low as 0.43 V vs. RHE, a value considerably lower than that of pure α-Fe2O3 photoanodes prepared in comparable synthesis conditions. This result represents one of the lowest onset...

Photosynthesis is nature's route to convert intermittent solar irradiation into storable energy, while its use for an industrial energy supply is impaired by low efficiency. Artificial photosynthesis provides a promising alternative for efficient robust carbon-neutral renewable energy generation. The approach of direct hydrogen generation by photoelectrochemical water splitting utilizes customi...

We have fabricated titanium dioxide based dye-sensitized solar cells that incorporate corrosion-protected silver nanoparticles as plasmonic optical elements of the photoelectrode. The thickness of the TiO(2) layer separating the dye from the nanoparticles has been systematically varied using atomic layer deposition. Over the range of TiO(2) coating thicknesses examined (2 to 8 nm) there is clea...

Self-assembled ZnO secondary nanoparticles have been fabricated as an effective photoelectrode for dye-sensitized solar cells (DSCs). The hierarchical architecture, which manifested the significant lightscattering, can provide more photon harvesting. In addition, dye-molecule adsorption was sufficient due to enough internal surface area provided by the primary single nanocrystallites. Two indol...

Various tandem cell configurations have been reported for highly efficient and spontaneous hydrogen production from photoelectrochemical solar water splitting. However, there is a contradiction between two main requirements of a front photoelectrode in a tandem cell configuration, namely, high transparency and high photocurrent density. Here we demonstrate a simple yet highly effective method t...