Earth Abundant Copper Sulphide Photocathodes for Solar Water Splitting
Rajiv Prabhakar a, Wilman Septina a, David Tilley a
a Department of Chemistry, University of Zurich, Winterthurerstrasse 190, Zurich, CH-8057
Materials for Sustainable Development Conference (MATSUS)
Proceedings of September Meeting 2016 (NFM16)
Berlin, Germany, 2016 September 5th - 13th
Organizers: Marin Alexe, Enrique Cánovas, Celso de Mello Donega, Ivan Infante, Thomas Kirchartz, Maksym Kovalenko, Federico Rosei, Lukas Schmidt-Mende, Laurens Siebbeles, Peter Strasser, Teodor K Todorov, Roel van de Krol and Ulrike Woggon
Poster, David Tilley, 078
Publication date: 14th June 2016

Photoelectrochemical water splitting is a promising route to convert solar energy into chemical energy for the quest of a clean energy conversion system. Currently the most efficient photocathodes are based on Si, GaInP2, GaP and copper indium gallium sulphide/selenide (CIGS). Although these materials exhibit high photocurrents, they either constitute rare metals or require high cost processing techniques. However in order to rival the traditional photovoltaic plus electrolysis, there is a need to develop highly efficient photoelectrochemical cells using cheap and earth abundant materials that are fabricated with low energy intensity methods.

In this work, copper sulphide (Cu2-xS) photocathodes were prepared using a simple sulphurization of copper metal. X-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM-EDX) indicate that the films were Cu2-xS. Photoelectrochemical cells (PEC) were fabricated using these films by using CdS as an n-type electron extraction layer, followed by a protective TiO2 layer and Pt catalyst. Photocurrents of ~ 1.6 mA/cm2 were obtained from this PEC device at 0 V vs RHE in mildly acidic media (pH 5.5). Various strategies to improve the photocurrent and stability of these PECs will be discussed. 



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