Custom plating of nanoscale semiconductor/catalyst junctions for photoelectrochemical water splitting

Abstract

Photoelectrochemical water splitting under harsh chemical conditions can be promoted by dispersed transition metal nanoparticles electrodeposited on n-Si surfaces, without the need for classical protection layers. Although this method is simple, it only allows for poor control of metal morphology and geometry on the photoanode surface. Herein, we introduce templated nanoscale electrodeposition on photoactive n-Si for the customization of nanoscale inhomogeneous Schottky junctions and demonstrate their use as stable photoanodes. The photoelectrochemical properties of the so-manufactured photoanodes exhibit a strong dependence on the photoanodes’ geometrical features, and the obtained experimental trends are rationalized using simulation.