Photoelectrochemical water splitting on metal-nitride nanowire arrays: Breaking the efficiency bottleneck of solar-to-hydrogen conversion

金属氮化物纳米线阵列上的光电化学水分解：突破太阳能制氢效率瓶颈

• 批准号: 463021-2014
• 负责人: Mi, Zetian
• 金额: $ 11.47万
• 依托单位: McGill University
• 依托单位国家: 加拿大
• 项目类别: Strategic Projects - Group
• 财政年份: 2015
• 资助国家: 加拿大
• 起止时间: 2015-01-01 至 2016-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nserc-crsng.gc.ca/ase-oro/Details-Detailles_eng.asp?id=577006
• 关键词: Photoelectrochemical; water; splitting; metal; nitride

This project is related to the generation of green hydrogen using a clean, renewable process via photoelectrochemical water splitting under direct solar irradiation. Compared to solar electricity, the use of chemical bonds to store solar energy promises significantly reduced device fabrication cost, as well as the cost associated with energy storage. Over the past 40 years, researches have been largely focused upon metal-oxide based photocatalyst materials that are only responsive to ultraviolet (UV) light (~ 4% in solar spectrum). We have recently demonstrated, for the first time, spontaneous hydrogen production from pure water splitting on metal-nitride nanowires under blue and green-lighting irradiation (up to ~ 560 nm), the longest wavelength ever reported. We have further identified that the currently reported low solar-to-hydrogen conversion efficiency (~1-2%) on nanoscale photocatalysts is largely limited by Fermi-level pinning and surface band bending. In this project, by engineering the surface charge properties of metal-nitride nanowires through controlled Mg-dopant incorporation, we aim to enhance the solar-to-hydrogen conversion efficiency by one to two orders of magnitude. We will investigate the synthesis, characterization, and photocatalytic properties of multi-band InGaN:Mg nanowire arrays, that can break the efficiency bottleneck of solar-to-hydrogen conversion. We aim to demonstrate one-step solar-to-hydrogen production with an energy conversion efficiency of more than 15%, which is comparable to the efficiency of commercial solar cells. This project also involves close collaborations with research staff members in IREQ, Hydro-Québec and CIS Scientific Inc. in Montreal, who are in the business of developing clean energy devices and systems. We strongly believe it is of imminent interest to launch such a multidisciplinary project, which is poised to provide a paradigm shift in the rapidly evolving solar energy and hydrogen industries.

该项目与通过直接太阳照射下的光电化学水分割的清洁，可再生的过程与绿色氢的产生有关。与太阳能相比，使用化学键存储太阳能有望大大降低设备制造成本，以及与储能相关的成本。在过去的40年中，研究主要集中在金属氧化物的光催化剂材料上，这些光催化剂材料仅对紫外线（紫外线）响应（太阳光谱中约为4％）。最近，我们首次证明了从蓝色和绿色照射下的金属硝酸纳米线上纯净水分（最高〜560 nm）的纯净水分裂（最多是有史以来最长的波长）。我们还进一步确定，当前报道的纳米级光催化剂的太阳能转化效率（〜1-2％）在很大程度上受Fermi-Level固定和表面带弯曲的限制。在该项目中，通过通过受控的MG型型保险来设计金属氮化物纳米线的表面电荷特性，我们旨在提高太阳能到氢转化效率的效率一到两个数量级。我们将研究多波段Ingan：Mg纳米线阵列的合成，表征和光催化特性，这些特性可能会破坏太阳能到氢转化的效率瓶颈。我们的目标是证明一步太阳能到氢生产，其能量转化效率超过15％，这与商业太阳能电池的效率相当。该项目还涉及与IREQ，Hydro-Québec和Cis Scientific Inc.的研究人员进行密切合作，他们从事开发清洁能源设备和系统的业务。我们坚信，发起这样的多学科项目即将引起人们的兴趣，该项目被毒死，以提供迅速发展的太阳能和氢气行业的范式转变。