How Light-Harvesting Semiconductors Can Alter the Bias of Reversible Electrocatalysts in Favor of H₂ Production and CO₂ Reduction

Abstract

The most efficient catalysts for solar fuel production should operate close to reversible potentials, yet possess a bias for the fuel-forming direction. Protein film electrochemical studies of Ni-containing carbon monoxide dehydrogenase and [NiFeSe]-hydrogenase, each a reversible electrocatalyst, show that the electronic state of the electrode strongly biases the direction of electrocatalysis of CO₂/CO and H⁺/H₂ interconversions. Attached to graphite electrodes, these enzymes show high activities for both oxidation and reduction, but there is a marked shift in bias, in favor of CO₂ or H⁺ reduction, when the respective enzymes are attached instead to n-type semiconductor electrodes constructed from CdS and TiO₂ nanoparticles. This catalytic rectification effect can arise for a reversible electrocatalyst attached to a semiconductor electrode if the electrode transforms between semiconductor- and metallic-like behavior across the same narrow potential range (<0.25 V) that the electrocatalytic current switches between oxidation and reduction