Experimental and first-principles theoretical studies on Ag-doped cuprous oxide as photocathode in photoelectrochemical splitting of water

Nanostructured thin films of undoped and Ag-doped cuprous oxide were deposited on indium tin oxide-coated glass substrate using simple spray pyrolysis method for their use as photocathode in photoelectrochemical (PEC) cell for solar energy based water splitting. Combination of experiments and first-principles density functional theory based calculations was used to determine and understand the effect of Ag substitution on electronic structure and PEC performance. Thin films were characterized using XRD, FE-SEM, UV-Vis spectroscopy and PEC measurements. The results of DFT calculations show that the top of valence band and bottom of conduction band of undoped Cu2O lie at Gamma point of brillouin zone, respectively, suggesting that pure Cu2O is a direct band gap material. Minimal changes appear in the band gap and band gap energies in the Ag-doped Cu2O system, keeping it still a direct band gap material. A defect band appearance can be seen between -4 and -5 eV in the valence band consisting mainly of Ag 4d states and can be explained by a stronger interaction between the Ag 4d and O 2p, due to the larger Ag size. Ag-doped samples exhibit improved conductivity and fourfold increase in photocurrent density with respect to undoped samples.