Using Protection Layers for a 2-Photon Water Splitting Device

The 2-photon tandem device for photocatalytic water splitting has been theoretically shown to provide a higher efficiency than a single photon device(1). This increased efficiency can be achieved by having one material optimized to absorb high energy photons (large bandgap) and another material optimized to absorb low energy photons (small bandgap). To a large degree this approach has been hindered by corrosion issues. In this talk I will first discuss how our computational screening of 2,400 materials showed that very few materials can efficiently absorb light without corroding in water splitting conditions.(2) I will follow this up by discussing how protection layers bypass the corrosion issue by creating a buffer layer.(3) Finally I will show how we integrated a photocatalyst/protection layer/(co-catalyst) scheme to produce highly efficient H2 evolution photocathodes and O₂ evolution photoanodes.(3, 4) 1. A. B. Laursen, S. Kegnaes, S. Dahl and I. Chorkendorff, Energy & Environmental Science, 5 (2012). 2. B. Seger, I. E. Castelli, P. C. K. Vesborg, K. W. Jacobsen, O. Hansen and I. Chorkendorff, Energy & Environmental Science, 7, 2397 (2014). 3. B. Seger, T. Pedersen, A. B. Laursen, P. C. K. Vesborg, O. Hansen and I. Chorkendorff, Journal of the American Chemical Society, 135, 1057 (2013). 4. B. Mei, A. A. Permyakova, R. Frydendal, D. Bae, T. Pedersen, P. Malacrida, O. Hansen, I. E. L. Stephens, P. C. K. Vesborg, B. Seger and I. Chorkendorff, The Journal of Physical Chemistry Letters, 5, 3456 (2014). [Figure]