Issue 8, 2015

Photoanodic and photocathodic behaviour of La5Ti2CuS5O7 electrodes in the water splitting reaction

Abstract

The particulate semiconductor La5Ti2CuS5O7 (LTC) with a band gap energy of 1.9 eV functioned as either a photocathode or a photoanode when embedded onto Au or Ti metal layers, respectively. By applying an LTC/Au photocathode and LTC/Ti photoanode to, respectively, photoelectrochemical (PEC) water reduction and oxidation concurrently, zero-bias overall water splitting was accomplished under visible light irradiation. The band structures of LTC/Au and LTC/Ti calculated using a semiconductor device simulator (AFORS-HET) confirmed the critical role of the solid/solid junction of the metal back contact in the charge separation and PEC properties of LTC photoelectrodes. The prominently long lifetime of photoexcited charge carriers in LTC, confirmed by transient absorption spectroscopy, allowed the utilization of both photoexcited electrons and holes depending on the band structure at the solid/solid junction.

Graphical abstract: Photoanodic and photocathodic behaviour of La5Ti2CuS5O7 electrodes in the water splitting reaction

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Edge Article
Submitted
14 apr 2015
Accepted
11 iyn 2015
First published
11 iyn 2015
This article is Open Access

All publication charges for this article have been paid for by the Royal Society of Chemistry
Creative Commons BY-NC license

Chem. Sci., 2015,6, 4513-4518

Photoanodic and photocathodic behaviour of La5Ti2CuS5O7 electrodes in the water splitting reaction

G. Ma, Y. Suzuki, R. B. Singh, A. Iwanaga, Y. Moriya, T. Minegishi, J. Liu, T. Hisatomi, H. Nishiyama, M. Katayama, K. Seki, A. Furube, T. Yamada and K. Domen, Chem. Sci., 2015, 6, 4513 DOI: 10.1039/C5SC01344E

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