DYe-Sensitized p-type Photocathodes with Optimized transport and panchromatic absorption properties for solar Water-splitting – DYSPOW

Among the emerging technologies allowing the production of hydrogen directly from solar light, dye-sensitized photoelectrochemical cells appeared to be a very promising technology. However, in spite of some encouraging results reported over the past years, there is still a strong need of fundamental research to circumvent the limitations encountered in the field of solar light absorption, use of abundant materials and long-term stability of the devices to boost the efficiencies. In this context, DYSPOW intends to introduce new dye-sensitized photocathodes able to achieve water reduction via: i) the improvement of the transport properties of the photocathode by using CuMO2 (M = Al, Ga) delafossite instead of the conventional NiO as p-type semiconductor; ii) the development of energy saving routes to produce p-type delafossite nanoparticles allowing for maximizing the dye-catalyst loading; iii) the use of co-sensitization approaches along with the development of new “blue” dyes to optimize the light harvesting ability; iv) the fine tuning of the different interfaces by using covalent or iono-covalent oxide-dye and dye-catalyst linkages. A full set of advanced characterizations will be implemented to study the transport, electronic and optical properties of the targeted dye-sensitized photocathodes and their ability to achieve water splitting. In particular, Scanning Electrochemical Microscopy will provide insights in the process of water reduction at the photocathode-electrolyte interface allowing the determination of the main factors ruling this process. DYSPOW will thus develop photocathodes with optimized charge carrier transport and absorption properties for application in solar water splitting.