Issue 14, 2016

Optimized light-driven electrochemical water splitting with tandem polymer solar cells

Abstract

Tandem polymer solar cells are used for light-driven electrochemical water splitting. To attain a high enough electrochemical potential a new wide band gap electron donor polymer (PTPTIBDT-OD) is developed and used in combination with [70]PCBM as an electron acceptor in a tandem device architecture with two identical photoactive layers. This homo-tandem device comprises an intermediate ZnO/PEDOT:PSS/MoO3 charge recombination layer to connect the two subcells electrically and optically. The homo-tandem solar cell has an open-circuit voltage of 1.74 V and reaches a power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 5.3%. In combination with RuO2 as the electrocatalyst for oxygen evolution and RuO2 or Pt catalysts for hydrogen evolution, sunlight-driven electrochemical water splitting occurs with a solar-to-hydrogen conversion efficiency of ηSTH = 4.3%. Owing to the very high fill factor of the polymer tandem cell (0.73), water splitting takes place near the maximum power point of the homo-tandem solar cell. As a consequence, the difference between PCE and ηSTH is only due to the overpotential losses.

Graphical abstract: Optimized light-driven electrochemical water splitting with tandem polymer solar cells

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
20 Dec 2015
Accepted
03 Mar 2016
First published
03 Mar 2016
This article is Open Access
Creative Commons BY license

J. Mater. Chem. A, 2016,4, 5107-5114

Author version available

Optimized light-driven electrochemical water splitting with tandem polymer solar cells

S. Esiner, G. W. P. van Pruissen, M. M. Wienk and R. A. J. Janssen, J. Mater. Chem. A, 2016, 4, 5107 DOI: 10.1039/C5TA10459A

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