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Atomic layer-deposited tunnel oxide stabilizes silicon photoanodes for water oxidation.
| Content Provider | Semantic Scholar |
|---|---|
| Author | Chen, Yi Wei Prange, Jonathan D. Dühnen, Simon Park, Yohan Gunji, Marika Chidsey, Christopher E. D. Mcintyre, Paul C. |
| Copyright Year | 2011 |
| Abstract | A leading approach for large-scale electrochemical energy production with minimal global-warming gas emission is to use a renewable source of electricity, such as solar energy, to oxidize water, providing the abundant source of electrons needed in fuel synthesis. We report corrosion-resistant, nanocomposite anodes for the oxidation of water required to produce renewable fuels. Silicon, an earth-abundant element and an efficient photovoltaic material, is protected by atomic layer deposition (ALD) of a highly uniform, 2 nm thick layer of titanium dioxide (TiO(2)) and then coated with an optically transmitting layer of a known catalyst (3 nm iridium). Photoelectrochemical water oxidation was observed to occur below the reversible potential whereas dark electrochemical water oxidation was found to have low-to-moderate overpotentials at all pH values, resulting in an inferred photovoltage of ~550 mV. Water oxidation is sustained at these anodes for many hours in harsh pH and oxidative environments whereas comparable silicon anodes without the TiO(2) coating quickly fail. The desirable electrochemical efficiency and corrosion resistance of these anodes is made possible by the low electron-tunnelling resistance (<0.006 Ω cm(2) for p(+)-Si) and uniform thickness of atomic-layer deposited TiO(2). |
| File Format | PDF HTM / HTML |
| DOI | 10.1038/nmat3047 |
| PubMed reference number | 21685904 |
| Journal | Medline |
| Volume Number | 10 |
| Issue Number | 7 |
| Alternate Webpage(s) | https://media.nature.com/original/nature-assets/nmat/journal/v10/n7/extref/nmat3047-s1.pdf |
| Alternate Webpage(s) | https://doi.org/10.1038/nmat3047 |
| Journal | Nature materials |
| Language | English |
| Access Restriction | Open |
| Content Type | Text |
| Resource Type | Article |
