Best Practices in PEC Water Splitting: How to Reliably Measure Solar-to-Hydrogen Efficiency of Photoelectrodes

Alley，Olivia J.1; Wyatt，Keenan2; Steiner，Myles A.2; Liu，Guiji1; Kistler，Tobias1,3; Zeng，Guosong1,4; Larson，David M.1; Cooper，Jason K.1; Young，James L.2; Deutsch，Todd G.2; Toma，Francesca M.1

2022-10-27

10.3389/fenrg.2022.884364

Frontiers in Energy Research   Impact Factor & Quartile

2296-598X

2296-598X

Photoelectrochemical (PEC) water splitting, which utilizes sunlight and water to produce hydrogen fuel, is potentially one of the most sustainable routes to clean energy. One challenge to success is that, to date, similar materials and devices measured in different labs or by different operators lead to quantitatively different results, due to the lack of accepted standard operating procedures and established protocols for PEC efficiency testing. With the aim of disseminating good practices within the PEC community, we provide a vetted protocol that describes how to prepare integrated components and accurately measure their solar-to-hydrogen (STH) efficiency (η). This protocol provides details on electrode fabrication, η test device assembly, light source calibration, hydrogen evolution measurement, and initial material qualification by photocurrent measurements under monochromatic and broadband illumination. Common pitfalls in translating experimental results from any lab to an accurate STH efficiency under an AM1.5G reference spectrum are discussed. A III–V tandem photocathode is used to exemplify the process, though with small modifications, the protocol can be applied to photoanodes as well. Dissemination of PEC best practices will help those approaching the field and provide guidance for comparing the results obtained at different lab sites by different groups.

faradaic efficiency III–V tandem solar cells incident photon-to-current efficiency light source calibration photoelectrochemical solar-to-hydrogen conversion efficiency water splitting

SCI

English

Others

U.S. Department of Energy["DE-AC36-08GO28308","DE-AC02-05CH11231"]

Energy & Fuels

Energy & Fuels

WOS:000885977800001

FRONTIERS MEDIA SA

2-s2.0-85141659465

Scopus

1.Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory,Chemical Sciences Division,Berkeley,United States
2.National Renewable Energy Laboratory,Chemistry and Nanoscience Center,Golden,United States
3.Walter Schottky Institute and Physics Department,Technische Universität München,Garching,Germany
4.Department of Mechanical and Energy Engineering,College of Engineering,Southern University of Science and Technology,Shenzhen,China

Alley，Olivia J.,Wyatt，Keenan,Steiner，Myles A.,et al. Best Practices in PEC Water Splitting: How to Reliably Measure Solar-to-Hydrogen Efficiency of Photoelectrodes[J]. Frontiers in Energy Research,2022,10.

Alley，Olivia J..,Wyatt，Keenan.,Steiner，Myles A..,Liu，Guiji.,Kistler，Tobias.,...&Toma，Francesca M..(2022).Best Practices in PEC Water Splitting: How to Reliably Measure Solar-to-Hydrogen Efficiency of Photoelectrodes.Frontiers in Energy Research,10.

Alley，Olivia J.,et al."Best Practices in PEC Water Splitting: How to Reliably Measure Solar-to-Hydrogen Efficiency of Photoelectrodes".Frontiers in Energy Research 10(2022).