Nickel oxide functionalized silicon for efficient photo-oxidation of water

• DOI: 10.1039/c2ee21708b
• Publication Date: 2012-04-17T13:12:09Z
• Authors: Ke Sun; Namseok Park; Zhelin Sun; Jigang Zhou; Jian Wang; Xiaolu Pang; Shaohua Shen; Sun Young Noh; Yi Jing; Sungho Jin; Paul K. L. Yu; Deli Wang
• Keywords: Overpotential; Nickel oxide; Oxygen evolution

We report a nickel oxide (NiOx) thin film, from cost-effective sol–gel process, coated n-type silicon (n-Si) as photoanode for efficient photo-oxidation of water under neutral pH condition. The NiOx film has three functions: (i) serves protection layer to improve the chemical stability Si photoelectrode, (ii) acts an oxygen evolution catalyst, and (iii) provides junction photovoltage further reduce overpotential. onset potential is reduced below thermodynamic oxidation level was observed at low overpotentials. Our results demonstrate fabrication robust photoelectrodes low-cost Si, which enable practical solar with high efficiency.