Noble-Metal-Free Perovskite–BiVO<sub>4</sub> Tandem Device with Simple Preparation Method for Unassisted Solar Water Splitting
Shicong Zhang, Luze Shen, Ting Ye, Kangyi Kong, Haonan Ye, Haoran Ding, Yue Hu, Jianli Hua
Abstract
Unassisted solar water splitting can be realized by connecting a photovoltaic (PV) device in series with a photoelectrochemical cell (PEC). However, the complex fabrication methods and inevitable usage of noble metal have limited its development. In this work, we have constructed a wired tandem device with printable triple-mesoscopic perovskite solar cells and a BiVO4 based PEC. Moreover, a noble-metal-free device was fabricated by using spin-coated amorphous MoSx films as a cathode instead of Pt. In unit area, the different fabrication forms of perovskite solar cells were proved to have a huge influence for the overall performance of the tandem device, in which three-serial PV (PV3) based device showed the highest photocurrent density of ∼3.0 mA/cm2 without external bias, and corresponding solar-to-hydrogen (STH) efficiency was 3.1%. The noble-metal-free tandem device was fabricated using spin-coating and screen-printing methods, representing an environmentally friendly and sustainable method to generate hydrogen fuel.