Benchmark performance of low-cost Sb2Se3 photocathodes for unassisted solar overall water splitting

Wooseok Yang; Jin Hyun Kim; Oliver S. Hutter; Laurie J. Phillips; Jeiwan Tan; Jaemin Park; Hyungsoo Lee; Jonathan D. Major; Jae Sung Lee; Jooho Moon

doi:10.1038/s41467-020-14704-3

Benchmark performance of low-cost Sb₂Se₃ photocathodes for unassisted solar overall water splitting

Wooseok Yang, Jin Hyun Kim, Oliver S. Hutter, Laurie J. Phillips, Jeiwan Tan, Jaemin Park, Hyungsoo Lee, Jonathan D. Major, Jae Sung Lee, Jooho Moon

Department of Materials Science and Engineering

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

93 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Determining cost-effective semiconductors exhibiting desirable properties for commercial photoelectrochemical water splitting remains a challenge. Herein, we report a Sb₂Se₃ semiconductor that satisfies most requirements for an ideal high-performance photoelectrode, including a small band gap and favourable cost, optoelectronic properties, processability, and photocorrosion stability. Strong anisotropy, a major issue for Sb₂Se₃, is resolved by suppressing growth kinetics via close space sublimation to obtain high-quality compact thin films with favourable crystallographic orientation. The Sb₂Se₃ photocathode exhibits a high photocurrent density of almost 30 mA cm⁻² at 0 V against the reversible hydrogen electrode, the highest value so far. We demonstrate unassisted solar overall water splitting by combining the optimised Sb₂Se₃ photocathode with a BiVO₄ photoanode, achieving a solar-to-hydrogen efficiency of 1.5% with stability over 10 h under simulated 1 sun conditions employing a broad range of solar fluxes. Low-cost Sb₂Se₃ can thus be an attractive breakthrough material for commercial solar fuel production.

Original language	English
Article number	861
Journal	Nature communications
Volume	11
Issue number	1
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-020-14704-3
Publication status	Published - 2020 Dec 1

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
This work was supported by a National Research Foundation (NRF) of Korea grant (No. 2012R1A3A2026417); a Creative Materials Discovery Program (NRF-2018M3D1A1058793) funded by the Ministry of Science and ICT; the Korea Center for Artificial Photosynthesis (KCAP, No. 2009–0093880), funded by the MSIT; Project No. 10050509 funded by the MOTIE of Republic of Korea; and the UK EPSRC project number EP/N014057/1.

Publisher Copyright:
© 2020, The Author(s).

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

Chemistry(all)
Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology(all)
Physics and Astronomy(all)

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10.1038/s41467-020-14704-3

Cite this

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title = "Benchmark performance of low-cost Sb2Se3 photocathodes for unassisted solar overall water splitting",

abstract = "Determining cost-effective semiconductors exhibiting desirable properties for commercial photoelectrochemical water splitting remains a challenge. Herein, we report a Sb2Se3 semiconductor that satisfies most requirements for an ideal high-performance photoelectrode, including a small band gap and favourable cost, optoelectronic properties, processability, and photocorrosion stability. Strong anisotropy, a major issue for Sb2Se3, is resolved by suppressing growth kinetics via close space sublimation to obtain high-quality compact thin films with favourable crystallographic orientation. The Sb2Se3 photocathode exhibits a high photocurrent density of almost 30 mA cm−2 at 0 V against the reversible hydrogen electrode, the highest value so far. We demonstrate unassisted solar overall water splitting by combining the optimised Sb2Se3 photocathode with a BiVO4 photoanode, achieving a solar-to-hydrogen efficiency of 1.5% with stability over 10 h under simulated 1 sun conditions employing a broad range of solar fluxes. Low-cost Sb2Se3 can thus be an attractive breakthrough material for commercial solar fuel production.",

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note = "Funding Information: This work was supported by a National Research Foundation (NRF) of Korea grant (No. 2012R1A3A2026417); a Creative Materials Discovery Program (NRF-2018M3D1A1058793) funded by the Ministry of Science and ICT; the Korea Center for Artificial Photosynthesis (KCAP, No. 2009–0093880), funded by the MSIT; Project No. 10050509 funded by the MOTIE of Republic of Korea; and the UK EPSRC project number EP/N014057/1. Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2020, The Author(s).",

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