Journal
MATERIALS ADVANCES
Volume 3, Issue 24, Pages 9009-9018Publisher
ROYAL SOC CHEMISTRY
DOI: 10.1039/d2ma00947a
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- Mohammed bin Salman Center for Future Science and Technology for Saudi-Japan Vision 2030 at the University of Tokyo (MbSC2030)
- [MbSC2030]
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This study numerically investigates the impact of a thin p-type modification layer on the photoelectrochemical performance of an n-type photoanode, and finds that the dopant densities are key parameters to control the depletion depths in the p-type modification layer and n-type photon absorber.
Surface modifications of semiconductor photoelectrodes are often introduced to enhance charge separation and reaction kinetics during solar-driven water splitting. Examples include the formation of n-n heterojunctions and the deposition of electrocatalyst layers. The internal electric field in a p-n junction is expected to be stronger than that in an n-n junction, and several studies have used p-type semiconducting electrocatalyst decoration to improve the overall performance of water splitting. However, a design guideline for the p-type modification layer has not been clearly reported. Therefore, we numerically investigated the impact of a thin p-type modification layer on the photoelectrochemical performance of an n-type photoanode. The key parameters were varied in simulations, including the band position, dopant densities, thickness of the p-type layer, and the dopant densities in the n-type region. Our numerical simulations show that the depletion depths in the p-type modification layer and n-type photon absorber are the key characteristics that need to be tuned, which is mainly achieved by controlling the dopant densities. This work also discusses the critical distinction of a p-n heterojunction compared to an n-n heterojunction photoanode.
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