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Effect of gold underlayer on copper(I) oxide photocathode performance

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 April 2017

Tian Lan ,
Colton Mundt ,
Minh Tran  and
Sonal Padalkar
Tian Lan
Affiliation:
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Iowa State University, Ames, IA 50011, USA
Colton Mundt
Affiliation:
Department of Aerospace Engineering, Iowa State University, Ames, IA 50011, USA
Minh Tran
Affiliation:
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Iowa State University, Ames, IA 50011, USA
Sonal Padalkar*
Affiliation:
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Iowa State University, Ames, IA 50011, USA; and Microelectronics Research Center, Iowa State University, Ames, IA 50011, USA
*
a)Address all correspondence to this author. e-mail: padalkar@iastate.edu
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Abstract

Copper(I) oxide (Cu2O) is a very favorable p-type semiconductor. It is an appealing candidate for photoelectrochemical water splitting. Here we report the fabrication and performance of gold (Au) underlayer–Cu2O composite photocathode for photoelectrochemical water splitting. The composite photocathode was fabricated by the electrodeposition technique. The different morphologies of the Au underlayer were achieved via variation in the process parameters including applied potential, electrolyte pH, and the presence of L-cysteine in the electrolyte. The Cu2O overlayer was also deposited using electrodeposition. Additionally, the influence of morphology variation, of the Au underlayer, on the performance of the composite photocathode was evaluated. It was observed that the performance of the composite photocathode increased by 81% when compared to a control sample of Cu2O. The composite photocathodes were characterized by scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy.

Keywords

electrodepositionabsorptionwater
Type
Articles
Information
Journal of Materials Research , Volume 32 , Issue 9 , 15 May 2017 , pp. 1656 - 1664
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Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 2017 

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Footnotes

Contributing Editor: Xiaobo Chen

References

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