Boosting Photoelectrochemical Ethanol Evolution on Reduced Graphene Oxide Functionalized Photocathode
Mi Jung, Chang Woo Kim, So Yeon Kim, Amol U. Pawar, Don Keun Lee, Young Soo Kang
Abstract
Abstract Herein, a reduced graphene oxide (rGO) functionalized photocathode is studied for selective production of solar liquid fuels depending on dark and solar light illumination condition. rGO functionalized photocathode with p–n junction at the core–shell interface of ZnO@ZnTe is prepared with a three‐step synthetic process. Preparation of ZnO nanorod, formation of ZnTe on ZnO nanorod by anion‐exchange and then, finally, rGO layers are functionalized on the surface of ZnO@ZnTe photocathode. The photoelectrochemical (PEC) system of BiVO 4 ∥KHCO 3 ∥ZnO@ZnTe@rGO combination is introduced for selective solar liquid fuel production by CO 2 reduction reaction (CO2RR). Functionalization of rGO layers on photocathode enables the multi‐electron shuttling function for the enhanced charge transfer efficiency due to its large charge capacitance, which results in producing liquid fuels such as HCHO and EtOH selectively as solar liquid fuels. These results in this work clearly demonstrate a possibility of solar liquid fuel product selectivity by PEC CO2RR.