Proceedings of 6th International Conference on Hybrid and Organic Photovoltaics (HOPV14)
Publication date: 1st March 2014
Photovoltaic conversion of solar energy into electricity is being successfully employed for many years as a way of sustainable energy generation. One issue about solar power generation is that it does not always occur at desired times and places. So a method to store this energy for future usage is required. Capturing solar energy in chemical bonds of molecular fuels is an effective manner of solar energy storage. A natural example of such a conversion is already observed in photosynthesis. It is possible to convert solar energy directly into a clean fuel also by combining photovoltaic conversion and water splitting for hydrogen generation.
Some examples of solar driven water splitting include the work ofLicht et al.[i] where hydrogen generation through photoelectrochemical water splitting is illustrated with a AlGaAs/Si tandem solar cell using RuO2 and Pt-black as catalysts for a solar-to-fuel conversion efficiency of 18.2%. Nocera et al.[ii] has also shown a stand-alone solar water splitting device with silicon-based triple junction cells and earth-abundant catalysts. Recently, we have also illustrated that photoelectrochemical water splitting is achievable by combining triple junction polymer solar cells with two platinum electrodes[iii].
In practice, water splitting occurs at potentials higher than the theoretical lower limit of E0H2O = 1.229 V for the reaction H2O → H2 + ½O2. The actual water splitting potential depends on the selection of the catalysts, electrolyte and the current density, and typically lies in the range of VH2O = 1.4-1.9 V[iv]. Even though single junction polymer solar cells cannot reach such potentials, series connected triple junction polymer solar cells can.
In this work, we present photoelectrochemical water splitting with triple junction polymer solar cells both using catalysts of precious metal oxides and earth-abundant catalysts. Aiming for the highest efficiency, a previously developed high efficiency triple junction polymer solar cell[v] is first combined with ruthenium oxide (RuO2) both as hydrogen and oxygen evolution catalysts in a 1 M KOH electrolyte. A high solar-to-fuel efficiency of 5.4% is achieved with this configuration. The same solar cell is also combined with cobalt oxide (CoOx) catalyst for oxygen evolution and nickel-molybdenum-zinc (NiMoZn) catalyst for hydrogen evolution in a potassium borate (KBi) electrolyte of near neutral pH conditions (pH9.2). Again, a high solar-to-fuel efficiency of 4.9% is measured. Furthermore, a stand-alone photoelectrochemical water splitting device with a large surface area solar cell connected to RuO2-RuO2 catalysts results in a solar-to-fuel efficiency of 3.6%.
[i] Licht, S.; Wang, B.; Mukerji, S.; Soga, T.; Umeno, M.; Tributsch, H. Int. J. Hydrogen Energy 2001, 26, 653. [ii] Reece, S.Y.; Hamel, J. A.; Sung, K.; Jarvi, T. D.; Esswein, A. J.; Pijpers, J. J. H.; Nocera,D. G. Science, 2011, 334, 645. [iii] Esiner, S.; van Eersel, H.; Wienk, M. M.; and Janssen, R. A. J. Adv. Mater., 2013, 25, 2932–2936 [iv] Cook, T. R.; Dogtuan, D. K.; Reece, S. Y.; Surendranath, Y.; Teets, T. S.; Nocera, D. G. Chem. Rev. 2010, 110, 6474. [v] Li, W.; Furlan, A.; Hendriks, K. H.; Wienk, M. M.; and Janssen, R. A. J. Journal of the American Chemical Society, 2013, 135 (15), 5529-5532
nanoGe is a prestigious brand of successful science conferences that are developed along the year in different areas of the world since 2009. Our worldwide conferences cover cutting-edge materials topics like perovskite solar cells, photovoltaics, optoelectronics, solar fuel conversion, surface science, catalysis and two-dimensional materials, among many others.
Previously nanoGe Spring Meeting (NSM) and nanoGe Fall Meeting (NFM), MATSUS is a multiple symposia conference focused on a broad set of topics of advanced materials preparation, their fundamental properties, and their applications, in fields such as renewable energy, photovoltaics, lighting, semiconductor quantum dots, 2-D materials synthesis, charge carriers dynamics, microscopy and spectroscopy semiconductors fundamentals, etc.
International Conference on Hybrid and Organic Photovoltaics
International Conference on Hybrid and Organic Photovoltaics (HOPV) is celebrated yearly in May. The main topics are the development, function and modeling of materials and devices for hybrid and organic solar cells. The field is now dominated by perovskite solar cells but also other hybrid technologies, as organic solar cells, quantum dot solar cells, and dye-sensitized solar cells and their integration into devices for photoelectrochemical solar fuel production.
Asia-Pacific International Conference on Perovskite, Organic Photovoltaics and Optoelectronics
The main topics of the Asia-Pacific International Conference on Perovskite, Organic Photovoltaics and Optoelectronics (IPEROP) are discussed every year in Asia-Pacific for gathering the recent advances in the fields of material preparation, modeling and fabrication of perovskite and hybrid and organic materials. Photovoltaic devices are analyzed from fundamental physics and materials properties to a broad set of applications. The conference also covers the developments of perovskite optoelectronics, including light-emitting diodes, lasers, optical devices, nanophotonics, nonlinear optical properties, colloidal nanostructures, photophysics and light-matter coupling.
The International Conference on Perovskite Thin Film Photovoltaics Perovskite Photonics and Optoelectronics (NIPHO) is the best place to hear the latest developments in perovskite solar cells as well as on recent advances in the fields of perovskite light-emitting diodes, lasers, optical devices, nanophotonics, nonlinear optical properties, colloidal nanostructures, photophysics and light-matter coupling.