Investigation of the Solar Hydrogen Sensitivity of GeSe Thin Film Photoelectrode with Photoelectrochemical Environment

Huanyang Ni; Yusu Fang; Yucheng Hu; Guohong Xiao; Xiaomin Wu; Feng Jiang

doi:10.1021/acsami.3c09146

Investigation of the Solar Hydrogen Sensitivity of GeSe Thin Film Photoelectrode with Photoelectrochemical Environment

ACS Appl Mater Interfaces. 2023 Oct 11;15(40):46861-46871. doi: 10.1021/acsami.3c09146. Epub 2023 Sep 28.

Authors

Huanyang Ni¹, Yusu Fang¹, Yucheng Hu¹, Guohong Xiao¹, Xiaomin Wu¹, Feng Jiang^{1

2

3}

Affiliations

¹ Institute of Hydrogen Energy for Carbon Peaking and Carbon Neutralization, School of Semiconductor Science and Technology, South China Normal University, Foshan 528225, China.
² Institute of Semiconductor Science and Technology, South China Normal University, 55 Zhongshan Avenue West, Tianhe District, Guangzhou 510631, China.
³ Chengfeng Light Energy Science and Technology (Guangzhou) Limited Company, Huangpu District, Guangzhou 510700, China.

PMID: 37769166
DOI: 10.1021/acsami.3c09146

Abstract

GeSe photovoltaic thin films are very promising for photoelectrochemical (PEC) hydrogen evolution. The GeSe-based PEC water splitting device is a system containing a photoelectrode, electrolyte, and other packages, and the performance of the GeSe photoelectrode inside the system is very sensitive to the PEC system environment, such as the electrolyte temperature, pH, and concentration. Here, we reveal how the electrolyte environment at the electrolyte/photoelectrode interface influences the optoelectronic/PEC properties of GeSe photoelectrodes. It was found that the photocurrent density of the GeSe photoelectrode increased with temperature between 10 and 50 °C but decreased when the temperature was over 50 °C. In addition, the pH values of the electrolyte were inversely proportional to the photocurrent density of the GeSe photoelectrode. Moreover, the PEC performance improved as the sodium ion concentration of the electrolyte increased. The results in this work should provide a new direction for further optimizing the performance of photoelectrodes.

Keywords: GeSe photocathode; concentration; electrode/electrolyte interface; pH; photoelectrochemical environment; solar hydrogen sensitivity; temperature.