Electrodeposition of Copper Oxides as Cost-Effective Heterojunction Photoelectrode Materials for Solar Water Splitting

Photoelectrocatalytic hydrogen production is crucial to reducing greenhouse gas emissions for carbon neutrality and meeting energy demands. Pivotal advances in photoelectrochemical (PEC) water splitting have been achieved by increasing solar light absorption. P-type Cu-based metal oxide materials ha...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Coatings (Basel) 2022-12, Vol.12 (12), p.1839
Main Authors: Yin, Tai-Hsin, Liu, Bu-Jine, Lin, Yu-Wei, Li, Yi-Syuan, Lai, Chih-Wei, Lan, Yu-Pin, Choi, Changsik, Chang, Han-Chen, Choi, YongMan
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Alternative energy sources
Annealing
Carrier density
Copper
Copper oxide
Copper oxides
Cuprite
Dielectric films
Electrochemical analysis
Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy
Electrochemical reactions
Electrodeposition
Electrodes
Electrolytes
Electromagnetic absorption
Energy bands
Energy gap
Glass substrates
Greenhouse gases
Heterojunctions
Hydrogen production
Metal oxides
Optical properties
Photoelectric effect
Radiation
Scanning electron microscopy
Solar energy
Spectrum analysis
Surface chemistry
Surface roughness
Temperature effects
Thin films
Water splitting
X-ray spectroscopy
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Summary:Photoelectrocatalytic hydrogen production is crucial to reducing greenhouse gas emissions for carbon neutrality and meeting energy demands. Pivotal advances in photoelectrochemical (PEC) water splitting have been achieved by increasing solar light absorption. P-type Cu-based metal oxide materials have a wide range of energy band gaps and outstanding band edges for PEC water splitting. In this study, we first prepared Cu2O thin films using electrodeposition and fabricated a heterojunction structure of CuO/Cu2O by controlling annealing temperatures. The surface morphological, optical, and electrochemical properties were characterized using various analytical tools. X-ray and Raman spectroscopic approaches were used to verify the heterojunction of CuO/Cu2O, while surface analyses revealed surface roughness changes in thin films as the annealing temperatures increased. Electrochemical impedance spectroscopic measurements in conjunction with the Mott–Schottky analysis confirm that the CuO/Cu2O heterojunction thin film can boost photocurrent generation (1.03 mA/cm2 at 0 V vs. RHE) via enhanced light absorption, a higher carrier density, and a higher flat band potential than CuO and Cu2O thin films (0.92 and 0.08 mA/cm2, respectively).
ISSN:2079-6412
2079-6412
DOI:10.3390/coatings12121839