Publication date: 15th December 2014
Water splitting with metal oxide semiconductors has emerged as a highly promising strategy to provide fuels with the only input of sunlight and water. Their valence band edge position, low cost and high stability render these systems ideal candidates to photo-oxidize water. In this context, Materials like Fe2O3 and BiVO4 have been extensively investigated in the last years and remarkable photocurrents above 3 mA·cm-2 have been achieved. However, a basic understanding of the carrier dynamics leading to the interfacial electrochemical reactions is still needed in order to rationalize synthetic routes for materials development and device engineering. In the present presentation, we will focus on the interpretation of carrier dynamics based on physical modeling of photoelectrochemical devices fed by experimental results obtained from electrochemical characterization. We will examine the role of surface states on water oxidation with metal oxide semiconductors and the effect of different catalytic and functional layers in order to enhance their performance towards generation of solar fuels.