• 한국진공학회:학술대회논문집
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• 한국진공학회 2016년도 제50회 동계 정기학술대회 초록집
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• pp.402.2-402.2
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• 2016

In photoelectrochemical (PEC) water splitting, Cu2ZnSnS4 (CZTS) compound has attracted intense attention as a photocathode due to not only large optical absorption coefficient, but also earth-abundance of constituent elements and suitable band alignment. With rapid development of nanotechnology, one-dimensional nanostructures of CZTS have been investigated as a potential form to achieve high efficiency because the nanostructures are expected to be capable of capturing more light and enhancing charge separation and transport. Here, we report a well-controlled fabrication route for vertically-aligned CZTS nanorod arrays on anodic aluminium oxide (AAO) template via simple sol-gel process followed by deposition of ZnS or CdS buffer layers on the CZTS nanorod to enhance charge separation. The structure, morphology, composition, optical absorption, and PEC properties of the resulting CZTS nanorod samples were characterized using X-ray diffraction, Raman spectroscopy, transmission electron microscopy, energy dispersive X-ray spectrometry, scanning electron microscopy, and UV-vis spectroscopy.

• 마이크로전자및패키징학회지
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• 제27권4호
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• pp.39-45
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• 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.

• 한국표면공학회지
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• 제51권4호
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• pp.237-242
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• 2018

We report on the fabrication and photoelectrochemical (PEC) properties of a ZnO nanorod array structure as an efficient photoelectrode for hydrogen production from sunlight-driven water splitting. Vertically aligned ZnO nanorods were grown on an indium-tin-oxide-coated glass substrate via seed-mediated hydrothermal synthesis method with the use of a ZnO nanoparticle seed layer, which was formed by thermally oxidizing a sputtered Zn metal thin film. The structural and morphological properties of the synthesized ZnO nanorods were examined using X-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscopy, as well as Raman scattering. The PEC properties of the fabricated ZnO nanorod photoelectrode were evaluated by photocurrent conversion efficiency measurements under white light illumination. From the observed PEC current density versus voltage (J-V) behavior, the vertically aligned ZnO nanorod photoelectrode was found to exhibit a negligible dark current and high photocurrent density, e.g., $0.65mA/cm^2$ at 0.8 V vs Ag/AgCl in a 1 mM $Na_2SO_4$ electrolyte. In particular, a significant PEC performance was observed even at an applied bias of 0 V vs Ag/AgCl, which made the device self-powered.

• 한국수소및신에너지학회논문집
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• 제33권5호
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• pp.507-514
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• 2022

There is growing interest in sustainable energy sources that can reduce fossil fuel dependence and environmental pollution while meeting rapidly growing energy demands. Hydrogen have been investigated as one of the ideal alternative energies because it has relatively high efficiency without emitting pollutants. The light-sensitized enzymatic (LSE) system, which uses hydrogenase-enzymes, is one of the methods towards economically feasible system configurations that enhance the rate of hydrogen generation. Hydrogenase is an enzyme that catalyzes a reversible reaction that oxidizes molecular hydrogen or produces molecular hydrogen from protons and electrons. In this paper, utilization of [NiFe]-hydrogenase (from Pyrococcus furiosus) in photoelectrochemical hydrogen production system such as handling, immobilization, physicochemical and electrochemical analysis, process parameters, etc. was introduced.

• 한국표면공학회지
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• 제56권4호
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• pp.265-272
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• 2023

Photoelectrochemical (PEC) water splitting is one of the promising methods for hydrogen production by solar energy. Iron oxide has been effectively investigated as a photoelectrode material for PEC water splitting due to its intrinsic property such as short minority carrier diffusion length. However, iron oxide has a low PEC efficiency owing to a high recombination rate between photoexcited electrons and holes. In this study, we synthesized nanoporous structured iron oxide by anodization to overcome the drawbacks and to increase surface area. The anodized iron oxide was annealed in Ar atmosphere with different purging times. In conclusion, the highest current density of 0.032 mA/cm² at 1.23 V vs. RHE was obtained with 60 s of pursing for iron oxide(Fe-60), which was 3 times higher in photocurrent density compared to iron oxide annealed with 600 s of pursing(Fe-600). The resistances and donor densities were also evaluated for all the anodized iron oxide by electrochemical impedance spectra and Mott-Schottky plot analysis.

• 한국재료학회지
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• 제29권1호
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• pp.1-6
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• 2019

Recent industrialization has led to a high demand for the use of fossil fuels. Therefore, the need for producing hydrogen and its utilization is essential for a sustainable society. For an eco-friendly future technology, photoelectrochemical water splitting using solar energy has proven promising amongst many other candidates. With this technique, semiconductors can be used as photocatalysts to generate electrons by light absorption, resulting in the reduction of hydrogen ions. The photocatalysts must be chemically stable, economically inexpensive and be able to utilize a wide range of light. From this perspective, cuprous oxide($Cu_2O$) is a promising p-type semiconductor because of its appropriate band gap. However, a major hindrance to the use of $Cu_2O$ is its instability at the potential in which hydrogen ion is reduced. In this study, gold is used as a bottom electrode during electrodeposition to obtain a preferential growth along the (111) plane of $Cu_2O$ while imperfections of the $Cu_2O$ thin films are removed. This study investigates the photoelectrochemical properties of $Cu_2O$. However, severe photo-induced corrosion impedes the use of $Cu_2O$ as a photoelectrode. Two candidates, $TiO_2$ and $SnO_2$, are selected for the passivation layer on $Cu_2O$ by by considering the Pourbaix-diagram. $TiO_2$ and $SnO_2$ passivation layers are deposited by atomic layer deposition(ALD) and a sputtering process, respectively. The investigation of the photoelectrochemical properties confirmed that $SnO_2$ is a good passivation layer for $Cu_2O$.

• 한국재료학회지
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• 제29권3호
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• pp.196-203
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• 2019

We report on the fabrication and characterization of an oxide photoanode with a zinc oxide (ZnO) nanorod array embedded in cuprous oxide ($Cu_2O$) thin film, namely a $ZnO/Cu_2O$ oxide p-n heterostructure photoanode, for enhanced efficiency of visible light driven photoelectrochemical (PEC) water splitting. A vertically oriented n-type ZnO nanorod array is first prepared on an indium-tin-oxide-coated glass substrate via a seed-mediated hydrothermal synthesis method and then a p-type $Cu_2O$ thin film is directly electrodeposited onto the vertically oriented ZnO nanorod array to form an oxide p-n heterostructure. The introduction of $Cu_2O$ layer produces a noticeable enhancement in the visible light absorption. From the observed PEC current density versus voltage (J-V) behavior under visible light illumination, the photoconversion efficiency of this $ZnO/Cu_2O$ p-n heterostructure photoanode is found to reach 0.39 %, which is seven times that of a pristine ZnO nanorod photoanode. In particular, a significant PEC performance is observed even at an applied bias of 0 V vs $Hg/Hg_2Cl_2$, which makes the device self-powered. The observed improvement in the PEC performance is attributed to some synergistic effect of the p-n bilayer heterostructure on the formation of a built-in potential including the light absorption and separation processes of photoinduced charge carriers, which provides a new avenue for preparing efficient photoanodes for PEC water splitting.

• 한국진공학회:학술대회논문집
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• 한국진공학회 2013년도 제45회 하계 정기학술대회 초록집
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• pp.70-70
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• 2013

As the costs of carbon-footprinetd fuels grow continuously and simultaneously atmospheric carbon dioxide concentration increases, solar fuels are receiving growing attention as alternative clean energy carriers. These fuels include molecular hydrogen and hydrogen peroxide produced from water, and hydrocarbons converted from carbon dioxide. For high efficiency solar fuel production, not only light absorbers (oxide semiconductors, Si, inorganic complexes, etc) should absorb most sunlight, but also charge separation and interfacial charge transfers need to occur efficiently. With this in mind, this talk will introduce the fundamentals of solar fuel production and artificial photosynthesis, and then discuss in detail on photoelectrochemical (PEC) water splitting and CO2 conversion. This talk largely divides into two section: PEC water oxidation and PEC CO2 reduction. The former is very important for proton-coupled electron transfer to CO2. For this oxidation, a variety of oxide semiconductors have been tested including TiO2, ZnO, WO3, BiVO4, and Fe2O3. Although they are essentially capable of oxidizing water into molecular oxygen, the efficiency is very low primarily because of high overpotentials and slow kinetics. This challenge has been overcome by coupling with oxygen evolving catalysts (OECs) and/or doping donor elements. In the latter, surface-modified p-Si electrodes are fabricated to absorb visible light and catalyze the CO2 reduction. For modification, metal nanoparticles are electrodeposited on the p-Si and their PEC performance is compared.

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• 제32권12호
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• pp.4392-4396
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• 2011

Porous silicon with a complex network of nanopores is utilized for photoelectrochemical energy conversion. A novel electroless Pt deposition onto porous silicon is investigated in the context of photoelectrochemical hydrogen generation. The electroless Pt deposition is shown to improve the characteristics of the PS photoelectrode toward photoelectrochemical $H^+$ reduction, though excessive Pt deposition leads to decrease of photocurrent. Furthermore, it is found that a thin layer (< 10 ${\mu}m$) of porous silicon can serve as anti-reflection layer for the underlying Si substrate, improving photocurrent by reducing photon reflection at the Si/liquid interface. However, as the thickness of the porous silicon increases, the surface recombination on the dramatically increased interface area of the porous silicon begins to dominate, diminishing the photocurrent.

• Rapid Communication in Photoscience
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• 제3권2호
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• pp.35-37
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• 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.