Graphdiyne (GDY), a new member of 2D carbon material family, was introduced into a Si heterojunction (SiHJ)-based photoelectrochemical water splitting cell. With assistance of magnetron-sputtered NiOx, the plateau photocurrent density of SiHJ/GDY/NiO x-10 nm with optimized NiO x film thickness was twice higher than that of SiHJ/NiO x-10 nm, demonstrating the catalytic function of GDY itself as well as the synergistic effect between GDY and NiO x. The results verified that GDY is a promising photoelectrode material candidate to realize highly efficient PEC performance, and pave a novel pathway to further improve Si-based PEC system.
Keywords: Si heterojunction; graphdiyne; photoelectrode.