• Journal of the Korean Electrochemical Society
• /
• v.13 no.1
• /
• pp.10-18
• /
• 2010

Nanostructured metal oxides have been widely used in the research fields of photoelectrochemistry, photochemistry and opto-electronics. Dye-sensitized solar cell is a typical example because it is based on nanostructured $TiO_2$. Since the discovery of dye-sensitized solar cell in 1991, it has been considered as a promising photovoltaic solar cell because of low-cost, colorful and semitransparent characteristics. Unlike p-n junction type solar cell, dye-sensitized solar cell is photoelectrochemical type and is usually composed of the dye-adsorbed nanocrystalline metal oxide, the iodide/tri-iodide redox electrolyte and the Pt and/or carbon counter electrode. Among the studied issues to improve efficiency of dye-sensitized solar cell, nanoengineering technologies of metal oxide particle and film have been reviewed in terms of improving optical property, electron transport and electron life time.

• Transactions of the Korean hydrogen and new energy society
• /
• v.21 no.1
• /
• pp.64-71
• /
• 2010

This paper deals with an economic evaluation of domestic immersing type photoelectrochemical hydrogen production. We also make some sensitivity analysis of hydrogen production prices by changing the values of input factors such as the initial capital cost, the solar to hydrogen conversion efficiency, and the system duration time. The hydrogen production price of the immersing type photoelectrochemical system was estimated as 8,264,324 won/$kgH_2$. It is expected that the production cost by photoelectrochemical hydrogen production can be reduced to 26,961 won/$kgH_2$ if the solar to hydrogen conversion efficiency is increased to 14%, the system duration time is increased to 20,000 hours, and the initial capital cost is decreased to 10% of the current level. The photoelectrochemical hydrogen production is evaluated as uneconomical at this time, and we need to enhance the solar to hydrogen conversion efficiency and the system duration time as well as to reduce prices of the system facilities.

• Journal of the Korean Electrochemical Society
• /
• v.14 no.2
• /
• pp.104-109
• /
• 2011

We fabricated CdSe-sensitized photoelectrochemical solar cell by depositing CdSe nanoparticles on nanoporous $TiO_2$ (np-$TiO_2$) via spray pyrolysis deposition method. By adjusting the amount of CdSe-sensitizer deposited on np-$TiO_2$, we can fabricate an efficient CdSe-sensitized solar cell (${\eta}$ = 3.0% under 1 sun irradiation) in polysulfide liquid electrolyte.

• Transactions of the Korean hydrogen and new energy society
• /
• v.21 no.6
• /
• pp.595-603
• /
• 2010

This paper deals with an economic evaluation of domestic window type photoelectrochemical hydrogen production utilizing solar cells. We make some sensitivity analysis of hydrogen production prices by changing the values of input factors such as the initial capital cost, the solar to hydrogen conversion efficiency, and the system duration time. The hydrogen production price of the window type photoelectrochemical system was estimated as 1,168,972 won/$kgH_2$. It is expected that hydrogen production cost can be reduced to 47,601 won/$kgH_2$ if the solar to hydrogen conversion efficiency is increased to 14%, the system duration time is increased to 20,000 hours, and the initial capital cost is decreased to 25% of the current level. We also evaluate the hydrogen production cost of the water electrolysis using the electricity produced by solar cells. The corresponding hydrogen production cost was estimated as 37,838 won/$kgH_2$. The photoelectrochemical hydrogen production is evaluated as uneconomical at this time, and we need to enhance the solar to hydrogen conversion efficiency and the system duration time as well as to reduce prices of the system facilities.

• Rapid Communication in Photoscience
• /
• v.4 no.4
• /
• pp.82-85
• /
• 2015

Photoelectrochemical cell (PEC) is one of the attractive ways to produce clean and renewable energy. However, solar to hydrogen production via PEC system generally requires high external bias, because of material's innate electronic band potential relative to hydrogen reduction potential and/or charge separation issue. For spontaneous photo-water splitting, here, we design dye-sensitized solar cell (DSSC) and their monolithic tandem cell incorporated with a $BiVO_4$ photoanode. $BiVO_4$ has high conduction band edge potential and suitable band gap (2.4eV) to absorb visible light. To achieve efficient $BiVO_4$ photoanode system, electron and hole mobility should be improved, and we demonstrate a tandem cell in which $BiVO_4/WO_3$ film is connected to cobalt complex based DSSC.

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
• /
• v.33 no.7
• /
• pp.2200-2206
• /
• 2012

One-dimensional $TiO_2$ array grown on optically transparent electrode holds a promise as a photoelectrode for photoelectrochemical water splitting; however, its crystal structure is rutile, imposing constraints on the potent use of this nanostructure. To address this issue, a heterojunction with type-II band alignment was fabricated using atomic layer deposition (ALD) technique. One-dimensional core/shell structured $TiO_2$/ZnO heterojunction was superior to $TiO_2$ in the photoelectrochemical water splitting because of better charge separation and more favorable Fermi level. The heterojunction also possesses better light scattering property, which turned out to be beneficial even for improving the photoelectrochemical performance of semiconductor-sensitized solar cell.

• Transactions of the Korean hydrogen and new energy society
• /
• v.16 no.2
• /
• pp.130-135
• /
• 2005

Cadmium selenide is one of the group IIb-VI compounds, which is the promising semiconductor material due to its wide range of technological applications in optoelectronic devices such as photoelectrochemical cells, solid state solar cells, thin film photoconductors etc. CdSe has optical band gap of 1.7-1.8eV and proper conduction band edge for water splitting. CdSe films are coated with small thickness(20-50nm) nanocrystalline $TiO_2$ film by electrodeposition or chemical bath deposition methods and PEC properties of CdSe and CdSe/$TiO_2$ sandwich structure are studied. The photoactivity of CdSe and CdSe/$TiO_2$ films deposited on titanium substrate is studied in aqueous electrolyte of 1M NaOH solution. Photocurrent and photovoltage obtained were of the order of 2-4 mA/$cm^2$ and 0.5V, respectively, under the intensity of illumination of 100 mW/$cm^2$.

• Journal of Electrochemical Science and Technology
• /
• v.2 no.3
• /
• pp.174-179
• /
• 2011

The mesoscopic $Sb_2S_3$-sensitized photoelectrochemical solar cells using cobalt redox electrolyte exhibit nonlinear behavior of power conversion efficiency with illuminated sun intensity. From the measurement of bulk diffusion and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy studies, we suggest that the nonlinearity of device performance with illuminated sun intensity is attributed not to the slow bulk diffusion problem of cobalt electrolyte but to the limited mass transport in narrowed pore volume in mesoscopic $TiO_2$ electrode.

• Journal of Electrochemical Science and Technology
• /
• v.13 no.3
• /
• pp.377-389
• /
• 2022

The current global energy supply depends heavily on fossil fuels. This makes technology such as direct water splitting from harvesting solar energy in photoelectrochemical (PEC) systems potentially attractive due to its a promising route for environmentally benign hydrogen production. In this study, undoped and nickel-doped molybdenum oxide photoanodes (called photoanodes S₁ and S₂ respectively) were synthesized through electrodeposition by applying -1.377 V vs Ag/AgCl (3 M KCl) for 3 hours on an FTO-coated glass substrate immersed in molibdatecitrate aqueous solutions at pH 9. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM), atomic force microscopy (AFM), energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS), and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) were used for microstructural and compositional characterizations of the photoanodes. In addition, the optical and photoelectrochemical characterizations of these photoanodes were performed by UV-Visible spectroscopy, and linear scanning voltammetry (LSV) respectively. The results showed that all the photoanodes produced exhibit conductivity and catalytic properties that make them attractive for water splitting application in a photoelectrochemical cell. In this context, the photoanode S₂ exhibited better photocatalytic activity than the photoanode S₁. In addition, photoanode S₂ had the lowest optical band-gap energy value (2.58 eV), which would allow better utilization of the solar spectrum.

• Clean Technology
• /
• v.27 no.1
• /
• pp.85-92
• /
• 2021

A solar water battery is a system that generates power using solar energy. It is a combination of photoelectrochemical cells and an energy storage system. It can simultaneously convert and store solar energy without additional external voltage. Solar water batteries consist of photoelectrodes, storage electrodes and counter electrodes, and their properties and combination are important for the performance and the efficiency of the system. In this study, we tried to find the effect that changing the components of solar water batteries has on its system. The effects of the counter electrode during discharge, the kinds of photoelectrode and storage electrode materials, and electrolytes on the solar energy conversion and storage capacitance were studied. The optimized composition (TiO2 : NaFe-PB : Pt foil) exhibited 72.393 mAh g-1 of discharge capacity after 15 h of photocharging. It indicates that the efficiency of solar energy conversion and storage is largely affected by the configuration of the system. Also, the addition of organic pollutants to the chamber of the photoelectrode improved the battery's photo-current and discharge capacity by efficient photoelectron-hole pair separation with simultaneous degradation of organic pollutants. Solar water batteries are a new eco-friendly solar energy conversion and storage system that does not require additional external voltages. It is also expected to be used for water treatment that utilizes solar energy.