• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Surface Engineering Conference
• /
• 2015.05a
• /
• pp.101-101
• /
• 2015

Photoelectrochemical water splitting is considered as a promising method of transforming solar energy into chemical energy stored in the type of hydrogen. An n-type $WO_3$ semiconductor is one of the most promising photoanodes for hydrogen production from water splitting. Films annealed at lower temperatures consisted of amorphous, whereas films annealed above $500^{\circ}C$ comprised solely of monoclinic $WO_3$. In this study, we observed photoactivity of $WO_3$ as increasing thickness of $WO_3$. And it shows good photoacivity as thickness increases. Also we tried to improve photoactivity through surface modification and bulk modification by using hydrogen treatment and conducting polymer. The photocurrent was measured in potentiostatic method with the three electrode system. A Pt wire and Ag / AgCl electrode were used as the counter electrode and the reference electrode, respectively. photocurrent-time (I-T) curve was measured at a bias potential of 0.79 V.

• Journal of the Microelectronics and Packaging Society
• /
• v.27 no.4
• /
• pp.39-45
• /
• 2020

The Cu/Cu2O/CuO photoelectrode has been successfully fabricated by Rapid Thermal Annealing technique. The structural characterization of fabricated photoelectrode was performed using X-Ray diffraction, while elemental composition of the prepared material has been checked with X-Ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy. The synthesis parameters are optimized on the basis of photoelectrochemical performance. The best photoelectrochemical performance has been observed for the Cu/Cu2O/CuO photoelectrode fabricated at 550 ℃ oxidation temperature and oxidation time of 50 seconds with highest photocurrent density of -3 mA/㎠ at -0.13 V vs. RHE.

• Rapid Communication in Photoscience
• /
• v.3 no.2
• /
• pp.35-37
• /
• 2014

PEC (photoelectrochemical) water splitting for $O_2/H_2$ production is one of the promising but difficult way to utilize solar energy. Among photocatalytic materials for PEC water oxidation, $BiVO_4$ (Eg = 2.4 eV) has been recently intensively studied since it has various advantageous properties. But its maximum efficiency has not been realized owing to kinetic factors - slow water oxidation at surface & insufficient stability. These problems can be simultaneously solved by application of oxygen evolution catalyst (OEC) such as $CoO_x$, Co-Pi, $IrO_x$ etc. Herein we report the first successful application of $NiFeO_x$ OEC on $BiVO_4$, showing good performance compared to other effective OEC applied on $BiVO_4$ under basic conditions. The enhanced activity of OEC loaded $BiVO_4$ has been supported by the surface charge separation efficiency and electrochemical impedance studies.

• Journal of the Korean Solar Energy Society
• /
• v.37 no.2
• /
• pp.13-22
• /
• 2017

Two-step water splitting thermochemical cycle with $CeO_2/ZrO_2$ foam device was investigated by using a solar simulator composed of 2.5 kW Xe-Arc lamp and mirror reflector. The hydrogen production of $CeO_2/ZrO_2$ foam device depending on heat recovery of Thermal-Reduction step and Water-Decomposition step was analyzed, and the hydrogen production of $CeO_2/ZrO_2$ and $NiFe_2O_4/ZrO_2$ foam devices was compared. Resultantly, the quantity of hydrogen generation increased by 52.02% when the carrier gas of Thermal-Reduction step is preheated to $200^{\circ}C$ and, when the $N_2/steam$ is preheated to $200^{\circ}C$ in the Water-Decomposition step, the quantity of hydrogen generation increased by 35.85%. Therefore, it is important to retrieve the heat from the highly heated gases discharged from each of the reaction spaces in order to increase the reaction temperature of each of the stages and thereby increasing the quantity of hydrogen generated through this.

• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
• /
• v.45 no.5
• /
• pp.415-423
• /
• 2007

Photocatalytic water splitting (PWS) is the most promising technology to produce $H_2$ energy directly from renewable water and solar light. In spite of the remarkable progress made in the last decade, there are still many technical challenges remaining particularly in finding new photocatalytic materials with high efficiency and durability. This article discusses the application of nanocomposite materials in search of new photocatalytic materials for solar hydrogen production from water. It has been demonstrated that smart combination and modification of known materials and functions could be fruitful approach for the purpose.

• Journal of the Korean Solar Energy Society
• /
• v.34 no.6
• /
• pp.11-18
• /
• 2014

Two-step water splitting thermochemical cycle with $CeO_2$ foam device was investigated by using a solar simulator composed of 2.5 kW Xe-Arc lamp and mirror reflector. The hydrogen production of $CeO_2$ foam device depending on reaction temperature of Thermal-Reduction step and Water-Decomposition step was analyzed, and the hydrogen production of $CeO_2$ and $NiFe_2O_4/ZrO_2$ foam devices was compared. As a result, the amount of reduced $CeO_2$ considerably varies according to the reaction temperature of Thermal-Reduction step. and hydrogen production was not much when the amount of reduced $CeO_2$ decreased even if the reaction temperature of Water-Decomposition step was high. Therefore, it is very important to keep the reaction temperature of Thermal-Reduction step high in two-step thermochemical cycle with $CeO_2$.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
• /
• v.30 no.5
• /
• pp.239-245
• /
• 2020

Synthesizing one-dimensional nanostructures of oxide semiconductors is a promising approach to fabricate highefficiency photoelectrodes for hydrogen production from photoelectrochemical (PEC) water splitting. In this work, vertically aligned zinc oxide (ZnO) nanorod arrays are successfully synthesized on fluorine-doped-tin-oxide (FTO) coated glass substrate via seed-mediated hydrothermal synthesis method with the use of a ZnO nanoparticle seed layer, which is formed by thermally oxidizing a sputtered Zn metal thin film. The structural, optical and PEC properties of the ZnO nanorod arrays synthesized at varying levels of Zn sputtering power are examined to reveal that the optimum ZnO nanorod array can be obtained at a sputtering power of 20 W. The photocurrent density and the optimal photocurrent conversion efficiency obtained for the optimum ZnO nanorod array photoanode are 0.13 mA/㎠ and 0.49 %, respectively, at a potential of 0.85 V vs. RHE. These results provide a promising avenue to fabricating earth-abundant ZnO-based photoanodes for PEC water oxidation using facile hydrothermal synthesis.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Potoscience Conference
• /
• spring
• /
• pp.23-24
• /
• 1999

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Surface Engineering Conference
• /
• 2018.06a
• /
• pp.58-58
• /
• 2018

• Journal of Hydrogen and New Energy
• /
• v.12 no.1
• /
• pp.21-27
• /
• 2001