Water-splitting Photoelectrochemical Cells Based on Carbon Nitride Materials: Progress through Improved Deposition Techniques

Michael Volokh^a, Menny Shalom^a

^aBen-Gurion University of the Negev, Israel, Beer-Sheva, Israel

Materials for Sustainable Development Conference (MATSUS)
Proceedings of nanoGe Fall Meeting19 (NFM19)

#SolFuel19. Solar Fuel Synthesis: From Bio-inspired Catalysis to Devices

Berlin, Germany, 2019 November 3rd - 8th

Organizers: Roel van de Krol and Erwin Reisner

Oral, Michael Volokh, presentation 051
DOI: https://doi.org/10.29363/nanoge.nfm.2019.051
Publication date: 18th July 2019

Water-splitting photoelectrochemical cells based on carbon nitride materials: progress through improved deposition techniques

Carbon nitride materials (CNs) are an emerging class of materials, which exhibit excellent photo- and heterogeneous-catalytic properties for various reactions thanks to their tunable band gap, suitable energy-band position, high stability under harsh chemical conditions, and low cost. However, the utilization of CN in photoelectrochemical (PEC) and other photoelectronic devices is yet to be wide-spread due to the difficulties in depositing high-quality and homogenous CN layer on substrates, the wide band gap of ‘intrinsic’ CN, poor charge-separation efficiency, and low electronic conductivity.^[1]

We present recent synthetic progress achieved in our group through several pathways for the preparation of various structures of CN on substrates and their underlying photophysical properties and photoelectrochemical performance. We focus on the ‘doctor-blade’ technique for deposition of a paste of supramolecular assemblies.^[2]We show how the incorporation of reduced graphene oxide^[3] and graphene oxide^[4] at different stages alters the properties of the paste and the final CN-based layer. Furthermore, we show a method to fabricate closely-packed CN film using crystallization of monomers.^[5]The main challenges for CN incorporation into PEC cell are described, together with possible routes to overcome the standing limitations toward the integration of CN materials in photoelectronic devices.^[1]

References:

[1] Volokh, M.; Peng, G.; Barrio, J.; Shalom, M. Carbon Nitride Materials for Water Splitting Photoelectrochemical Cells. Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2019, 58 (19), 6138–6151.

[2] Peng, G.; Xing, L.; Barrio, J.; Volokh, M.; Shalom, M. A General Synthesis of Porous Carbon Nitride Films with Tunable Surface Area and Photophysical Properties. Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2018, 57 (5), 1186–1192.

[3] Peng, G.; Volokh, M.; Tzadikov, J.; Sun, J.; Shalom, M. Carbon Nitride/Reduced Graphene Oxide Film with Enhanced Electron Diffusion Length: An Efficient Photo-Electrochemical Cell for Hydrogen Generation. Adv. Energy Mater. 2018, 8 (23), 1800566.

[4] Peng, G.; Qin, J.; Volokh, M.; Liu, C.; Shalom, M. Graphene Oxide in Carbon Nitride: From Easily Processed Precursors to a Composite Material with Enhanced Photoelectrochemical Activity and Long-Term Stability. J. Mater. Chem. A 2019, 7 (19), 11718–11723.

[5] Peng, G.; Albero, J.; Garcia, H.; Shalom, M. A Water-Splitting Carbon Nitride Photoelectrochemical Cell with Efficient Charge Separation and Remarkably Low Onset Potential. Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2018, 57 (48), 15807–15811.

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