Photochemical Diodes and Twin-Photosystem Configurations for Water Splitting

13 Photochemical Diodes and Twin-Photosystem Configurations for Water Splitting 

As mentioned earlier, photochemical diodes489 can be either of the Schottky type, involving a metal and a semiconductor, or a p n junction type, involving two semi conductors (which can be the same, i.e., a homojunction or different, a heterojunc tion). Only the latter type is considered in this Section involving two irradiated semi conductor/ electrolyte interfaces. Thus n Ti02 and p-GaP crystal wafers were bonded together (through the rear Ohmic contacts) with conductive Ag epoxy cement.489 The resultant heterotype p n photochemical diode was suspended in an acidic aqueous 

This type of device has been contrasted489 with a series connection of a photovoltaic p-n junction solar cell and a water electrolyzer. Unlike the latter which is a majority carrier system (i.e., the n-side of the junction is the cathode and the p-side becomes the anode), in a photochemical diode, minority carriers (holes for the n-type and electrons for the p-type) are injected into the electrolyte. This distinction translates to certain advantages in terms of the overall energetics of the solar energy conversion system (see Ref. 489). 

The p-n photoelectrolysis approach,60 on the other hand, simply combines a n-type semiconductor photoanode and a p-type semiconductor photocathode in an electrolysis cell (Fig. 2c). The pros and cons of this twin-photosystem approach (which mimicks plant photosynthesis) were enumerated earlier in this Chapter (see Section 2). Table 16 provides a compilation of the semiconductor photocathode and photoanode combinations that have been examined. Reference 67 may also be con suited in this regard for combinations involving n WSe2, n MoSe2, n WS2, n TiCH, p InP, p GaP and p Si semiconductor electrodes. 

14 Other Miscellaneous Approaches and Hydrogen Generation from Media Other than Water 

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