Issue 9, 2024

Photoelectrochemical performance of a nanostructured BiVO4/NiOOH/FeOOH–Cu2O/CuO/TiO2 tandem cell for unassisted solar water splitting

Abstract

An unassisted solar water splitting tandem cell is fabricated using FeOOH/NiOOH-coated BiVO4 nanostructures as a photoanode and a TiO2-protected heterojunction Cu2O/CuO thin film as a photocathode. The individual photoelectrochemical (PEC) performance of the nanostructured BiVO4/NiOOH/FeOOH photoanode produces a photocurrent of 2.05 mA cm−2 at 1.23 V vs. RHE, while the Cu2O/CuO/TiO2 photocathode delivers −1.61 mA cm−2 at 0 V vs. RHE under an AM 1.5 filtered illumination of 100 mW cm−2. The operating point of tandem cell photocurrent is found to be 0.273 mA cm−2 at 0.56 V vs. RHE. From two-electrode linear sweep voltammetry, the tandem cell (BiVO4/NiOOH/FeOOH–Cu2O/CuO/TiO2) delivers an unassisted current density of 0.201 mA cm−2 at 0 V. The chronoamperometry test further demonstrates the stable nature of the tandem cell, which retains a current density of 0.187 mA cm−2 during a testing duration of 3000 seconds. The proposed tandem cell provides optimized solutions to designing a cost-effective and stable solar water splitting system for the fulfillment of the future energy needs.

Graphical abstract: Photoelectrochemical performance of a nanostructured BiVO4/NiOOH/FeOOH–Cu2O/CuO/TiO2 tandem cell for unassisted solar water splitting

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
29 Jan 2024
Accepted
15 Mar 2024
First published
19 Mar 2024
This article is Open Access
Creative Commons BY-NC license

Nanoscale Adv., 2024,6, 2407-2418

Photoelectrochemical performance of a nanostructured BiVO4/NiOOH/FeOOH–Cu2O/CuO/TiO2 tandem cell for unassisted solar water splitting

S. R. Sitaaraman, A. N. Grace, J. Zhu and R. Sellappan, Nanoscale Adv., 2024, 6, 2407 DOI: 10.1039/D4NA00088A

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