Journal
JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN CHEMICAL SOCIETY
Volume 140, Issue 1, Pages 50-53Publisher
AMER CHEMICAL SOC
DOI: 10.1021/jacs.7b10373
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Funding
- National Science Foundation [1545907]
- International Institute for Carbon Neutral Energy Research (WPI-I2CNER) - Japanese Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology
- Office Of Internatl Science &Engineering
- Office Of The Director [1545907] Funding Source: National Science Foundation
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We present an integrated computational approach combining first-principles density functional theory (DFT) calculations with wxAMPS, a solid-state drift/diffusion device modeling software, to design functionalized photocathodes for high-efficiency generation. As a case study, we have analyzed the performance of p-type Si(111) photocathodes functionalized with a set of 20 mixed aryl/methyl monolayers, which have a known synthetic route for attachment to Si(111). DFT is used to screen for high-performing monolayers by calculating the surface dipole induced by the functionalization. The trend in the calculated surface dipoles was validated using previously published experimental measurements. We find that the molecular dipole moment is a descriptor of the surface dipole. wxAMPS is used to predict the open-circuit voltage (efficiency) of the photocathode by calculating the photocurrent versus voltage behavior using the DFT surface dipole calculations as inputs to the simulation. We find that V-oc saturates beyond a surface dipole of similar to 0.3 eV, suggesting an upper limit for achievable device performance. This computational approach provides a possibility for the rational design of functionalized photocathodes for enhanced H-2 generation by combining the angstrom-scale results obtained using DFT with the micron-to-nanometer scale capabilities of wxAMPS.
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