Durable hydrogen evolution from water driven by sunlight using (Ag,Cu)GaSe2 photocathodes modified with CdS and CuGa3Se5

Li Zhang; Tsutomu Minegishi; Mamiko Nakabayashi; Yohichi Suzuki; Kazuhiko Seki; Naoya Shibata; Jun Kubota; Kazunari Domen

doi:10.1039/C4SC02346C

Durable hydrogen evolution from water driven by sunlight using (Ag,Cu)GaSe₂ photocathodes modified with CdS and CuGa₃Se₅†

Li Zhang,^a Tsutomu Minegishi,^a Mamiko Nakabayashi,^b Yohichi Suzuki,^c Kazuhiko Seki,^c Naoya Shibata,^b Jun Kubota^a and Kazunari Domen*^a

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* Corresponding authors

^a Department of Chemical System Engineering, The University of Tokyo, 7-3-1 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo, Japan
E-mail: domen@chemsys.t.u-tokyo.ac.jp
Fax: +81-3-5841-8838
Tel: +81-3-5841-1652

^b Institute of Engineering Innovation, The University of Tokyo, 2-11-16 Yayoi, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-8656, Japan

^c NRI, National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST), AIST Tsukuba Central 5, Higashi 1-1-1, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-8565, Japan

Abstract

The photoelectrochemical properties of (Ag,Cu)GaSe₂ (ACGSe) modified by deposition of CdS and CuGa₃Se₅ layers were investigated. The CdS and CuGa₃Se₅ layers formed p–n junctions with an appropriate band diagram on the surface of the electrode and they clearly increased the cathodic photocurrent and onset potential. The Pt, CdS, and CuGa₃Se₅ modified ACGSe (Pt/CdS/CuGa₃Se₅/ACGSe) with an appropriate thickness of CuGa₃Se₅ layers (ca. 100 nm) showed a cathodic photocurrent of 8.79 mA cm⁻² at 0 V_RHE and an onset potential of 0.62 V_RHE (defined as cathodic photocurrent of 1.0 mA cm⁻²) under simulated sunlight irradiation in 0.1 M Na₂HPO₄ (pH 10). Pt/CdS/CuGa₃Se₅/ACGSe showed durable cathodic current under the observed reaction conditions and hydrogen was evolved for about 20 days.

This article is part of the themed collections: Global Energy Challenges: Hydrogen Energy and Global Energy Challenges: Energy Applications

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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1039/C4SC02346C
Article type: Edge Article
Submitted: 04 Aug. 2014
Accepted: 03 Sept. 2014
First published: 04 Sept. 2014
This article is Open Access

All publication charges for this article have been paid for by the Royal Society of Chemistry

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Chem. Sci., 2015,6, 894-901

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Durable hydrogen evolution from water driven by sunlight using (Ag,Cu)GaSe₂ photocathodes modified with CdS and CuGa₃Se₅

L. Zhang, T. Minegishi, M. Nakabayashi, Y. Suzuki, K. Seki, N. Shibata, J. Kubota and K. Domen, Chem. Sci., 2015, 6, 894 DOI: 10.1039/C4SC02346C

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