Study of key factors influencing the efficiency of photoelectrochemical cells using sunlight for synthesis reactions and water purification

The project deals with the basic research of semiconductor (SC) photoelectrodes for solar energy conversion with focus on understanding of photoelectrode/liquid (PL) junctions and their improvement via increased photosensitivity, charge transfer and long term stability. The main objectives of the project are the design of efficient PL junctions and evaluation of energetics of PL junction based devices (photoelectrochemical cells), for removal of water impurities or for synthesis reactions, where on one of the electrodes a “compound of fuel value” is produced under illumination of the SC electrode. Advanced deposition methods (aerosol and spray pyrolysis, hydrothermal synthesis, etc.) will be used for fabrication of photoelectrodes absorbing sunlight (Fe2O3, WO3, CuWO4, TiFe2O5, Cu2O, CuFeO2, etc.) and evaluated in terms of physical, semiconductor and photoelectrochemical properties. In order to reduce photocorrosion and/or reduce surface recombination, the optimized photoelectrodes will be covered with thin layers of SCs with suitable positions of the valence and conduction bands