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Hydrogen evolution from a copper(I) oxide photocathode coated with an amorphous molybdenum sulphide catalyst

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  • Carlos G. Morales-Guio

    (Laboratory of Inorganic Synthesis and Catalysis, Institute of Chemical Sciences and Engineering, École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL))

  • S. David Tilley

    (Laboratory of Photonics and Interfaces, Institute of Chemical Sciences and Engineering, École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL))

  • Heron Vrubel

    (Laboratory of Inorganic Synthesis and Catalysis, Institute of Chemical Sciences and Engineering, École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL))

  • Michael Grätzel

    (Laboratory of Photonics and Interfaces, Institute of Chemical Sciences and Engineering, École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL))

  • Xile Hu

    (Laboratory of Inorganic Synthesis and Catalysis, Institute of Chemical Sciences and Engineering, École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL))

Abstract

Concerns over climate change resulting from accumulation of anthropogenic carbon dioxide in the atmosphere and the uncertainty in the amount of recoverable fossil fuel reserves are driving forces for the development of renewable, carbon-neutral energy technologies. A promising clean solution is photoelectrochemical water splitting to produce hydrogen using abundant solar energy. Here we present a simple and scalable technique for the deposition of amorphous molybdenum sulphide films as hydrogen evolution catalyst onto protected copper(I) oxide films. The efficient extraction of excited electrons by the conformal catalyst film leads to photocurrents of up to −5.7 mA cm−2 at 0 V versus the reversible hydrogen electrode (pH 1.0) under simulated AM 1.5 solar illumination. Furthermore, the photocathode exhibits enhanced stability under acidic environments, whereas photocathodes with platinum nanoparticles as catalyst deactivate more rapidly under identical conditions. The work demonstrates the potential of earth-abundant light-harvesting material and catalysts for solar hydrogen production.

Suggested Citation

  • Carlos G. Morales-Guio & S. David Tilley & Heron Vrubel & Michael Grätzel & Xile Hu, 2014. "Hydrogen evolution from a copper(I) oxide photocathode coated with an amorphous molybdenum sulphide catalyst," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 5(1), pages 1-7, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:natcom:v:5:y:2014:i:1:d:10.1038_ncomms4059
    DOI: 10.1038/ncomms4059
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    Cited by:

    1. Xue Zhou & Baihe Fu & Linjuan Li & Zheng Tian & Xiankui Xu & Zihao Wu & Jing Yang & Zhonghai Zhang, 2022. "Hydrogen-substituted graphdiyne encapsulated cuprous oxide photocathode for efficient and stable photoelectrochemical water reduction," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 13(1), pages 1-10, December.
    2. Wan Jae Dong & Yixin Xiao & Ke R. Yang & Zhengwei Ye & Peng Zhou & Ishtiaque Ahmed Navid & Victor S. Batista & Zetian Mi, 2023. "Pt nanoclusters on GaN nanowires for solar-asssisted seawater hydrogen evolution," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 14(1), pages 1-10, December.
    3. Hamdani, I.R. & Bhaskarwar, A.N., 2021. "Recent progress in material selection and device designs for photoelectrochemical water-splitting," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 138(C).
    4. Matteo Bonomo & Danilo Dini, 2016. "Nanostructured p -Type Semiconductor Electrodes and Photoelectrochemistry of Their Reduction Processes," Energies, MDPI, vol. 9(5), pages 1-32, May.
    5. Liu, Xiangyu & Min, Shixiong & Xue, Yuan & Lei, Yonggang & Chen, Yangyang & Wang, Fang & Zhang, Zhengguo, 2019. "Accelerating photosensitized H2 evolution over in situ grown amorphous MoSx catalyst employing TiO2 as an efficient catalyst loading matrix and electron transfer relay," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 138(C), pages 562-572.
    6. Saraswat, Sushil Kumar & Rodene, Dylan D. & Gupta, Ram B., 2018. "Recent advancements in semiconductor materials for photoelectrochemical water splitting for hydrogen production using visible light," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 89(C), pages 228-248.

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