title: Solar Hydrogen Production by Amorphous Silicon Photocathodes Coated with a Magnetron Sputter Deposited Mo2C Catalyst.
abstract: Coupling of Earth-abundant hydrogen evolution catalysts to photoabsorbers is crucial for the production of hydrogen fuel using sunlight. In this work, we demonstrate the use of magnetron sputtering to deposit Mo2C as an efficient hydrogen evolution reaction catalyst onto surface-protected amorphous silicon (a-Si) photoabsorbers. The a-Si/Mo2C photocathode evolves hydrogen under simulated solar illumination in strongly acidic and alkaline electrolytes. Onsets of photocurrents are observed at potentials as positive as 0.85 V vs RHE. Under AM 1.5G (1 sun) illumination, the photocathodes reach current densities of -11.2 mA cm(-2) at the reversible hydrogen potential in 0.1 M H2SO4 and 1.0 M KOH. The high photovoltage and low-cost of the Mo2C/a-Si assembly make it a promising photocathode for solar hydrogen production.
authors.affiliation: †Laboratory of Inorganic Synthesis and Catalysis, Institute of Chemical Sciences and Engineering, École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), Lausanne CH-1015, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Carlos G
authors.initials: CG
authors.lastname: Morales-Guio
authors.affiliation: ‡Laboratory for Nanoscale Materials Science, Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology (EMPA), Dübendorf CH-8600, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Kerstin
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Thorwarth
authors.affiliation: §Photovoltaics and Thin-Film Electronics Laboratory, Institute of Microengineering (IMT), Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), Neuchâtel CH-2000, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Bjoern
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Niesen
authors.affiliation: †Laboratory of Inorganic Synthesis and Catalysis, Institute of Chemical Sciences and Engineering, École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), Lausanne CH-1015, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Laurent
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Liardet
authors.affiliation: ‡Laboratory for Nanoscale Materials Science, Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology (EMPA), Dübendorf CH-8600, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Jörg
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Patscheider
authors.affiliation: §Photovoltaics and Thin-Film Electronics Laboratory, Institute of Microengineering (IMT), Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), Neuchâtel CH-2000, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Christophe
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Ballif
authors.affiliation: †Laboratory of Inorganic Synthesis and Catalysis, Institute of Chemical Sciences and Engineering, École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), Lausanne CH-1015, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Xile
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Hu