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Rational design of photoelectrochemical cells towards bias-free water splitting: Thermodynamic and kinetic insights
journal contribution
posted on 2020-05-04, 10:30 authored by Hao Zhang, H Wang, Jin Xuan© 2020 Elsevier B.V. Photoelectrochemical (PEC) water splitting offers a promising way to produce hydrogen and harvest solar energy, however, its low efficiency has made it less economically attractive than other hydrogen production methods. Herein we present a numerical model of PEC cells considering quasi-fermi level splitting and interfacial kinetics to understand the charge transfer process and explore the approaches to increase the energy conversion efficiency. The non-linear change of photocurrent with light intensity under concentrated illumination is for the first time captured by a model. Based on the model, the operation regions of a PEC cell are mapped. Pathways to further promote the energy efficiency of PEC are proposed from the aspect of kinetics and thermodynamics. A new method that enables a precise evaluation of the theoretical boundaries of energy conversion efficiency of photocatalysts is developed taking into account the thermodynamics barrier.
Funding
UK Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) via grant number EP/R012164/2 and EP/S000933/1
History
School
- Aeronautical, Automotive, Chemical and Materials Engineering
Department
- Chemical Engineering
Published in
Journal of Power SourcesVolume
462Pages
228113Publisher
ElsevierVersion
- AM (Accepted Manuscript)
Rights holder
© ElsevierPublisher statement
This paper was accepted for publication in the journal Journal of Power Sources and the definitive published version is available at https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpowsour.2020.228113Acceptance date
2020-03-25Publication date
2020-04-18Copyright date
2020ISSN
0378-7753Publisher version
Language
- en
Depositor
Prof Jin Xuan. Deposit date: 4 May 2020Usage metrics
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