Enhanced Hydrogen Production with Chiral Conductive Polymer Based Electrodes

Efficient photo-electrochemical production of hydrogen from water is the aim of many studies in recent decades. Typically, one observes that the electric potential required to initiate the process significantly exceeds the thermodynamic limit. It was suggested that by controlling the spins of the electrons that are transferred from the solution to the anode, and ensuring that they are coaligned, the threshold voltage for the process can be decreased to that of the thermodynamic voltage. In the present study, by using anodes coated with chiral conductive polymer, the hydrogen production from water is enhanced, and the threshold voltage is reduced, as compared with anodes coated with achiral polymer. When CdSe quantum dots were embedded within the polymer, the current density was doubled. These new results point to a possible new direction for producing inexpensive, environmentally friendly, efficient water-splitting photo-electrochemical cells.