Issue 10, 2024

Utilizing three-terminal, interdigitated back contact Si solar cells as a platform to study the durability of photoelectrodes for solar fuel production

Abstract

Unassisted photoelectrochemical (PEC) reactions, such as H2 generation and CO2 reduction, are limited by the durability of the immersed photoelectrode. Small band gap semiconductors, like Si, are efficient at utilizing a large portion of the solar spectrum but are not stable in aqueous environments without protection. While great strides have been made to improve stability under constant illumination, dark stability remains relatively unexamined and presents great challenges for durable PEC systems. Cathodic protection is an established electrochemical method for preventing metal electrode degradation in harsh conditions. Similar protection strategies cannot be applied to traditional two-terminal (2T) semiconductor photoelectrodes because of their inability to pass reverse bias current in the dark. New, three-terminal (3T) photovoltaic (PV) architectures introduce additional degrees of freedom in traditional 2T PEC operations by adding an extra electrical contact for an alternative low resistance path to protect the photoelectrode and drive electrochemical reactions, even in the dark. Here, we investigate bare 3T Si PV devices operating as photocathodes in aqueous methyl viologen electrolyte. The 3T architecture provides additional capabilities to PEC systems such as cathodic protection, the ability to drive reactions with or without illumination, and in situ switching between different operational modes. We show that 3T-based Si photocathodes maintain PEC activity after several hours of light/dark cycling. This work helps advance PEC use in real-world conditions where variable illumination must be considered.

Graphical abstract: Utilizing three-terminal, interdigitated back contact Si solar cells as a platform to study the durability of photoelectrodes for solar fuel production

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Communication
Submitted
23 jan 2024
Accepted
22 apr 2024
First published
02 maj 2024
This article is Open Access
Creative Commons BY-NC license

Energy Environ. Sci., 2024,17, 3329-3337

Utilizing three-terminal, interdigitated back contact Si solar cells as a platform to study the durability of photoelectrodes for solar fuel production

D. K. Collins, Z. G. Schichtl, N. T. Nesbitt, A. L. Greenaway, V. D. Mihailetchi, D. Tune and E. L. Warren, Energy Environ. Sci., 2024, 17, 3329 DOI: 10.1039/D4EE00349G

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