Abstract
Direct conversion of sunlight into chemical fuels is an attractive prospect for a future energy infrastructure based on sustainable sources. This chapter motivates the choice for photoelectrochemical water splitting as a promising route toward solar fuels. It starts by describing some of the challenges associated with the use of fossil fuels, and gives a brief overview of alternative energy sources. It illustrates the advantages of using chemical fuels as a large-scale storage solution, and describes the role of hydrogen as one of the key components of these fuels. Finally, some benchmarks for photoelectrochemical water splitting are given, and various approaches and materials demands for practical devices are discussed.
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Notes
- 1.
CO2 level in May 2011.
- 2.
Estimates vary between 30 and 80%.
- 3.
The explosion limits of hydrogen are between 18 and 59%, and the flammability limits are between 4 and 74% (in air).
- 4.
This depends on the catalytic activity of the semiconductor surface, which can be quite low. By attaching suitable co-catalysts, overpotentials as low as 0.3–0.4 V can be achieved.
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Acknowledgment
Both authors thank the European Commission’s Framework 7 program (NanoPEC, Project 227179) for support.
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van de Krol, R., Grätzel, M. (2012). Introduction. In: van de Krol, R., Grätzel, M. (eds) Photoelectrochemical Hydrogen Production. Electronic Materials: Science & Technology, vol 102. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-1380-6_1
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