E-MRS/MRS Bilateral Energy Conference Innovative Technological Configurations of Photoelectrochemical Cells

Solar hydrogen generation from direct photoelectrochemical (PEC) water splitting is the ultimate goal for a sustainable, renewable and clean hydrogen economy. Such electrochemical systems represent a prospective alternative to fossil fuel dependence since the photovoltaic technology may be combined with an electrolysis system to produce hydrogen. The major advantage of this approach is that energy capture, conversion and storage are combined in a single system. The working principle of PEC cells consists of two electrodes, a photoactive semiconductor material and a Pt-wire counter-electrode, both immersed in an electrolyte solution.Nowadays, much of the research efforts are focused on solving the two main issues related to the photoelectrode materials, i.e. efficiency and stability, giving less attention to the technological problems. The present work aims to study different technological solutions envisaging a global efficiency enhancement of PEC devices, namely: different arrangements of PEC cells for improving H2 from O2 separation minimizing overpotentials and different temperatures.