Designing Photoelectrodes for Photocatalytic Fuel Cells and Elucidating the Effects of Organic Substrates

Photocatalytic fuel cells (PFCs) are constructed from anodized photoanodes with the aim of effectively converting organic materials into solar electricity. The syntheses of the photoanodes (TiO2, WO3, and Nb2O5) were optimized using the statistical 2k factorial design. A systematic study was carried...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:ChemSusChem 2015-12, Vol.8 (23), p.4005-4015
Main Authors: Hu, Chenyan, Kelm, Denis, Schreiner, Manuel, Wollborn, Tobias, Mädler, Lutz, Teoh, Wey Yang
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Catalysis
charge transfer
Electric Power Supplies
Electrochemistry
Electrodes
Equipment Design
Fuel cells
Organic Chemicals - chemistry
organic degradation
Oxides - chemistry
Photocatalysis
Photochemical Processes
Solar energy
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Summary:Photocatalytic fuel cells (PFCs) are constructed from anodized photoanodes with the aim of effectively converting organic materials into solar electricity. The syntheses of the photoanodes (TiO2, WO3, and Nb2O5) were optimized using the statistical 2k factorial design. A systematic study was carried out to catalog the influence of eleven types of organic substrate on the photocurrent responses of the photoanodes, showing dependence on the adsorption of the organic substrates and on the associated photocatalytic degradation mechanisms. Strong adsorbates, such as carboxylic acids, generated high photocurrent enhancements. Simple and short‐chained molecules, such as formic acid and methanol, are the most efficient in the corresponding carboxylic acid and alcohol groups as a result of their fast degradation kinetics. The TiO2‐based PFC yielded the highest photocurrent and obtainable power, whereas the Nb2O5‐based PFC achieved the highest open‐circuit voltage, which is consistent with its most negative Fermi level. Electric results! Photocatalytic fuel cells (PFCs) are constructed with the aim of effectively converting organic materials into solar electricity. The syntheses of the anodized photoanodes are optimized, the photoelectrochemical properties and the effect of various organic compounds are characterized, and the PFCs are constructed and assessed. PFC performance is affected by the adsorption and photocatalytic degradation of the organic compounds.
ISSN:1864-5631
1864-564X
DOI:10.1002/cssc.201500793