New electrode improves solar’s efficiency to split water
Scientists from the Universities of Chicago and Wisconsin have developed a new type of electrode for splitting water with sunlight, harvesting the hydrogen to be used as clean fuel.
Sun-capturing electrodes are designed to absorb as much of the solar spectrum as possible to maximise efficiency. However, they also need to facilitate the easy movement of electrons. Until now, scientists have had to use separate manipulations to increase photon absorption and electron transfer.
The new electrode, described in Nature Communications, is made primarily from the semiconducting compound bismuth vanadate. When the compound was heated to 350 degrees Celsius, the researchers passed nitrogen gas over it, some of which was incorporated into the electrode. This increased the efficiency of both photon absorption and electron transport.
It was found that as well as increasing the transport of electrons by creating ‘defects’ in the bismuth vanadate, the nitrogen also lowered the energy needed to kick electrons into the state in which they were available to split water. This meant that more solar energy could be used by the electrode.
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