Magnetic Field-Assisted Photoelectrochemical Water Splitting: The Photoelectrodes Have Weaker Nonradiative Recombination of Carrier
Qian Yang, Jinyan Du, Xiaoqin Nie, Dingming Yang, Liang Bian, Long Yang, Faqin Dong, Huichao He, Yong Zhou, Huaming Yang
Abstract
The manipulation of photoelectrodes’ electron–hole pairs toward low recombination is the fundamental strategy to achieve high solar-to-hydrogen conversion efficiency in photoelectrochemical (PEC) water splitting cells. Herein, we demonstrate that a magnet placed parallel to a photoelectrode can improve the water splitting activity of typical BiVO4 and α-Fe2O3 photoanodes as well as Cu2O/CuO and p-Si(111) photocathodes by restraining the nonradiative recombination of their carrier. Our investigations indicate that magnetic field-assisted PEC water splitting is a more effective approach than the conventional PEC water splitting. Magnetic field assistance provides a new, effective, and general strategy to improve the activity of photoelectrodes for solar water splitting and the other PEC reactions.