62 research outputs found
Anodic growth of titanium dioxide nanostructures
Disclosed is a method of producing nanostructures of titanium dioxide (TiO 2 ) by anodisation of titanium (Ti) in an electrochemical cell, comprising the steps of: immersing a non-conducting substrate coated with a layer of titanium, defined as the anode, in an electrolyte solution in the electrochemical cell; immersing a conducting substrate, defined as the cathode, in the electrolyte solution in the electrochemical cell; whereby the anode and the cathode are in electrical contact through the electrolyte solution; providing a voltage difference between the anode and the cathode; and providing an electrical contact to the layer of titanium on the anode, where the electrical contact is made in the electrolyte solutio
Oxide Thin-Films for Protection and Functionalization of Photocathodes in Tandem Water-Splitting Devices
Strategies for stable water splitting via protected photoelectrodes
This review provides a comprehensive overview of the key aspects of protection strategies for achieving stable solid/liquid interfaces for photoelectrodes.</p
Unbiased, complete solar charging of a neutral flow battery by a single Si photocathode
Solar redox flow batteries have attracted attention as a possible integrated technology for simultaneous conversion and storage of solar energy. In this work, we review current efforts to design aqueous solar flow batteries in terms of battery electrolyte capacity, solar conversion efficiency and depth of solar charge. From a materials cost and design perspective, a simple, cost-efficient, aqueous solar redox flow battery will most likely incorporate only one semiconductor, and we demonstrate here a system where a single photocathode is accurately matched to the redox couples to allow for a complete solar charge. The single TiO(2) protected Si photocathode with a catalytic Pt layer can fully solar charge a neutral TEMPO-sulfate/ferricyanide battery with a cell voltage of 0.35 V. An unbiased solar conversion efficiency of 1.6% is obtained and this system represents a new strategy in solar RFBs where a single silicon photocathode is paired with energetically suitable redox couples to build an integrated solar energy conversion and storage device with full realization of the energy storage capacity
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