High performance solar photoelectrodes based on thin-film reactions

基于薄膜反应的高性能太阳能光电极

• 批准号: 2109842
• 负责人: Edward Yu
• 金额: $ 37.11万
• 依托单位: University of Texas at Austin
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2021
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2021-07-15 至 2024-06-30
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2109842&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: performance; solar; photoelectrodes; based; thin

This project aims to develop new devices that use power from sunlight to perform chemical reactions necessary to convert water to hydrogen and oxygen. Traditional devices for this application, referred to as photoelectrodes, suffer from fundamental tradeoffs between efficiency and longevity in operation, because materials that absorb sunlight efficiently are generally degraded under the required operating conditions. Also, manufacturing costs combined with limited performance have, to date, rendered the production of hydrogen from solar power with such devices uneconomic. A highly scalable, low-cost materials processing approach based on crystalline silicon (the same material used in the very large majority of commercial solar cells) has shown promise to yield high-performance, low-cost photoelectrodes. This project will advance fundamental science and engineering of generating chemical fuels from solar power with such materials, seeking to reduce the cost of “green” hydrogen to make it competitive with fossil fuels. Concurrently, the research team will develop projects and materials that will enable elementary and secondary school students to learn about renewable energy and fundamental properties of light, topics of increasing importance for citizens in our modern society, using a low-cost visible-light optical spectrometer, made from inexpensive everyday items and attached to a smartphone camera.This project seeks to design and develop metal-insulator-semiconductor (MIS) photoanodes and photocathodes for solar-driven water splitting that offer high performance, outstanding stability, and highly scalable manufacturability at low cost. Key efforts will include realization of improved catalysts for the oxygen evolution reaction (OER), fabrication and exploration of MIS photocathode structures using scalable, low-cost, manufacturable approaches and earth-abundant catalyst materials, and an initial adaptation of this approach to MIS structures incorporating III-V semiconductors. Fundamental issues pertaining to the design, fabrication, operation, and properties of MIS photoanodes and photocathodes for solar-driven water-splitting will be elucidated. The materials science and nanoscale properties of thin-film reactions involving metallization layers, insulating oxides, and an underlying semiconductor substrate will be explored, in a context very different from their traditional application in semiconductor micro- and nanoelectronics. New approaches for fabrication of localized nanoscale catalyst structures integrated with thick protective oxides and an underlying semiconductor will be developed. The interplay among buried junction design and structure within the semiconductor, transport of photo-generated minority carriers, and spatial distribution of catalyst islands and conductive paths through a protective oxide layer will be explored.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.

该项目旨在开发新的设备，利用太阳光的能量进行必要的化学反应，将水转化为氢气和氧气。这种应用的传统设备，称为光电极，在工作中的效率和寿命之间存在根本的权衡，因为有效吸收阳光的材料通常在所需的工作条件下被降解。此外，到目前为止，制造成本加上有限的性能，使得使用这种设备从太阳能生产氢气是不经济的。一种高度可扩展的、低成本的材料处理方法，基于晶体硅(与绝大多数商业太阳能电池使用的材料相同)，显示出生产高性能、低成本光电极的前景。该项目将推进利用太阳能发电生产化学燃料的基础科学和工程，寻求降低“绿色”氢气的成本，使其具有与化石燃料的竞争力。同时，研究小组将开发项目和材料，使中小学生能够学习可再生能源和光的基本性质，这些主题在现代社会对公民越来越重要，使用低成本的可见光光学光谱仪，由廉价的日常用品制成，并连接到智能手机相机。该项目旨在设计和开发用于太阳能驱动的分水的金属绝缘体半导体(MIS)光阳极和光阴极，提供高性能、出色的稳定性和高度可扩展的低成本制造能力。主要工作将包括实现用于析氧反应(OER)的改进催化剂，使用可扩展、低成本、可制造的方法和地球丰富的催化剂材料来制造和探索管理信息系统光电阴极结构，以及将这种方法初步适应于包含III-V半导体的管理信息系统结构。将阐明有关太阳能驱动分水的MIS光阳极和光阴极的设计、制造、操作和性能的基本问题。涉及金属化层、绝缘氧化物和底层半导体衬底的薄膜反应的材料科学和纳米级特性将在与它们在半导体微电子和纳米电子中的传统应用截然不同的背景下进行探索。将开发新的方法来制造与厚保护性氧化物和底层半导体集成的局域化纳米级催化剂结构。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，通过使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，认为值得支持。

项目成果

Smart Window Structures Based on Highly Conductive, Transparent Metal Nanomeshes and Thermochromic Perovskite Films

• DOI: 10.1002/adom.202202409
• 发表时间: 2023-01
• 期刊: Advanced Optical Materials
• 影响因子: 9
• 作者: Shangduan Wu;Gabriel Cossio;Benjamin Braun;Frances Camille M. Wu;E. Yu