Title
Atomically dispersed iridium catalysts on silicon photoanode for efficient photoelectrochemical water splitting
Author
Sang Eon Jun, Youn-Hye Kim, Jaehyun Kim, Woo Seok Cheon, Sungkyun Choi, Jinwook Yang, Hoonkee Park, Hyungsoo Lee, Sun Hwa Park, Ki Chang Kwon, Jooho Moon, Soo-Hyun Kim & Ho Won Jang
Year
2023
Journal
Nature Communications
Abstract
Stabilizing atomically dispersed single atoms (SAs) on silicon photoanodes for photoelectrochemical-oxygen evolution reaction is still challenging due to the scarcity of anchoring sites. Here, we elaborately demonstrate the decoration of iridium SAs on silicon photoanodes and assess the role of SAs on the separation and transfer of photogenerated charge carriers. NiO/Ni thin film, an active and highly stable catalyst, is capable of embedding the iridium SAs in its lattices by locally modifying the electronic structure. The isolated iridium SAs enable the effective photogenerated charge transport by suppressing the charge recombination and lower the thermodynamic energy barrier in the potential-determining step. The Ir SAs/NiO/Ni/ZrO2/n-Si photoanode exhibits a benchmarking photoelectrochemical performance with a high photocurrent density of 27.7 mA cm−2 at 1.23 V vs. reversible hydrogen electrode and 130 h stability. This study proposes the rational design of SAs on silicon photoelectrodes and reveals the potential of the iridium SAs to boost photogenerated charge carrier kinetics.
Full Article
Instrument
V-770
Keywords
catalysts, silicon, Sas,