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- Baran, Tomasz, et al.
(författare)
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Copper oxide-based photocatalysts and photocathodes: Fundamentals and recent advances
- 2021
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Ingår i: Molecules. - : MDPI AG. - 1420-3049 .- 1420-3049 .- 1431-5157. ; 26:23
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Forskningsöversikt (refereegranskat)abstract
- This work aims at reviewing the most impactful results obtained on the development of Cu-based photocathodes. The need of a sustainable exploitation of renewable energy sources and the parallel request of reducing pollutant emissions in airborne streams and in waters call for new technologies based on the use of efficient, abundant, low-toxicity and low-cost materials. Photoelectrochemical devices that adopts abundant element-based photoelectrodes might respond to these requests being an enabling technology for the direct use of sunlight to the production of energy fuels form water electrolysis (H2) and CO2 reduction (to alcohols, light hydrocarbons), as well as for the degradation of pollutants. This review analyses the physical chemical properties of Cu2O (and CuO) and the possible strategies to tune them (doping, lattice strain). Combining Cu with other elements in multinary oxides or in composite photoelectrodes is also discussed in detail. Finally, a short overview on the possible applications of these materials is presented.
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| 2. |
- Visibile, Alberto, et al.
(författare)
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Electrodeposited Cu thin layers as low cost and effective underlayers for Cu2O photocathodes in photoelectrochemical water electrolysis
- 2020
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Ingår i: Journal of Solid State Electrochemistry. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1432-8488 .- 1433-0768. ; 24, s. 339-355
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Abstract Cu2O is one of the most studied semiconductors for photocathodes in photoelectrochemical water splitting (PEC-WS). Its low stability is counterbalanced by good activity, provided that a suitable underlayer/support is used.While Cu2O ismostly studied on Au underlayers, this paper proposes Cu(0) as a low-cost, easy to prepare and highly efficient alternative. Cu and Cu2O can be electrodeposited from the same bath, thus allowing in principle to tune the final material’s physico-chemical properties with highprecision with a scalable method. Electrodes and photoelectrodes are studied by means of electrochemical methods (cyclic voltammetry, Pb underpotential deposition) and by ex-situ X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS). While the potential applied for the deposition of Cu has no influence on the bulk structure and on the photocurrent displayed by the semiconductor, it plays a role on the dark currents, making this strategy promising for improving the material’s stability. Au/Cu2O and Cu/Cu2O show similar performances, the latter having clear advantages in view of future use in practical applications. The influence of Cu underlayer thickness was also evaluated in terms of obtained photocurrent.
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| 3. |
- Visibile, Alberto, et al.
(författare)
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Influence of Strain on the Band Gap of Cu2O
- 2019
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Ingår i: Chemistry of Materials. - : American Chemical Society (ACS). - 1520-5002 .- 0897-4756. ; 31:13, s. 4787-4792
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Cu2O has been considered as a candidate material for transparent conducting oxides and photocatalytic water splitting. Both applications require suitably tuned band gaps. Here we explore the influence of compressive and tensile strain on the band gap by means of density functional theory (DFT) modeling. Our results indicate that the band gap decreases under tensile strain while it increases to a maximum under moderate compressive strain and decreases again under extreme compressive strain. This peculiar behavior is rationalized through a detailed analysis of the electronic structure by means of density of states (DOS), density overlap region indicators (DORI), and crystal overlap Hamilton populations (COHP). Contrary to previous studies we do not find any indications that the band gap is determined by d10-d10 interactions. Instead, our analysis clearly shows that both the conduction and the valence band edges are determined by Cu-O antibonding states. The band gap decrease under extreme compressive strain is associated with the appearance of Cu 4sp states in the conduction band region.
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| 4. |
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