Unassisted photoelectrochemical CO <sub>2</sub> reduction by employing III–V photoelectrode with 15% solar‐to‐fuel efficiency
Karthik Peramaiah, Purushothaman Varadhan, Vinoth Ramalingam, Bilawal Khan, Pradip Kumar Das, Hao Huang, Hui‐Chun Fu, Xiulin Yang, Vincent Tung, Kuo‐Wei Huang, Jr‐Hau He
Abstract
Abstract Solar‐driven carbon dioxide reduction reaction (CO 2 RR) provides an opportunity to produce value‐added chemical feedstocks and fuels. However, achieving efficient and stable photoelectrochemical (PEC) CO 2 RR into selective products is challenging owing to the difficulties associated with the optical and the electrical configuration of PEC devices and electrocatalyst properties. Herein, we construct an efficient, concentrated sunlight‐driven CO 2 RR setup consisting of InGaP/GaAs/Ge triple‐junction cell as a photoanode and oxide‐derived Au (Ox‐Au) as a cathode to perform the unassisted PEC CO 2 RR. Under one‐sun illumination, a maximum operating current density of 11.5 mA cm –2 with an impressive Faradaic efficiency (FE) of ~98% is achieved for carbon monoxide (CO) production, leading to a solar‐to‐fuel conversion efficiency of ~15%. Under concentrated intensity of 10 sun, the photoanode records a maximum current density of ~124 mA cm –2 and maintains ~60% of FE for CO production. The results demonstrate crucial advancements in using III–V based photoanodes for concentrated PEC CO 2 RR.