Journal of Materials Research

Table of Contents - January 2010 - Volume  25   

Reviews

Accelerating materials development for photoelectrochemical hydrogen production: Standards for methods, definitions, and reporting protocols

Zhebo Chen, Thomas F. Jaramilloa1 c1, Todd G. Deutscha2 c2, Alan Kleiman-Shwarscteina3, Arnold J. Formana4, Nicolas Gaillarda5 c3, Roxanne Garlanda6, Kazuhiro Takanabea7, Clemens Heskea8, Mahendra Sunkaraa9, Eric W. McFarlanda10, Kazunari Domena11, Eric L. Millera12 c5, John A. Turner c5 and Huyen N. Dinha13 c4

a1 Department of Chemical Engineering, Stanford University, Stanford, California 94305-5025

a2 Hydrogen Technologies and Systems Center, National Renewable Energy Laboratory,Golden, Colorado 80401

a3 Department of Chemical Engineering, University of California–Santa Barbara,Santa Barbara, California 93106-5080

a4 Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of California–Santa Barbara,Santa Barbara, California 93106-5080

a5 Hawaii Natural Energy Institute, University of Hawaii at Manoa, Honolulu, Hawaii 96822

a6 Hydrogen, Fuel Cells and Infrastructure Technologies, U.S. Department of Energy,Washington, District of Columbia 20585

a7 Department of Chemical System Engineering, The University of Tokyo, 7-3-1 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-8656, Japan

a8 Department of Chemistry, University of Nevada–Las Vegas, Las Vegas, Nevada 89154-4003

a9 Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Louisville, Louisville, Kentucky 40292

a10 Department of Chemical Engineering, University of California–Santa Barbara,Santa Barbara, California 93106-5080

a11 Department of Chemical System Engineering, University of Tokyo, 7-3-1 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-8656, Japan

a12 Hawaii Natural Energy Institute, University of Hawaii at Manoa, Honolulu, Hawaii 96822

a13 Hydrogen Technologies and Systems Center, National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Golden, Colorado 80401

Abstract

Photoelectrochemical (PEC) water splitting for hydrogen production is a promising technology that uses sunlight and water to produce renewable hydrogen with oxygen as a by-product. In the expanding field of PEC hydrogen production, the use of standardized screening methods and reporting has emerged as a necessity. This article is intended to provide guidance on key practices in characterization of PEC materials and proper reporting of efficiencies. Presented here are the definitions of various efficiency values that pertain to PEC, with an emphasis on the importance of solar-to-hydrogen efficiency, as well as a flow chart with standard procedures for PEC characterization techniques for planar photoelectrode materials (i.e., not suspensions of particles) with a focus on single band gap absorbers. These guidelines serve as a foundation and prelude to a much more complete and in-depth discussion of PEC techniques and procedures presented elsewhere.

(Received June 19 2009)

(Accepted August 07 2009)

Key Words:

  • Energy generation;
  • H;
  • Photochemical

Correspondence:

c1 Address all correspondence to this author. e-mail: jaramillo@stanford.edu

c2 Address all correspondence to this author. e-mail: Todd.Deutsch@nrel.gov

c3 Address all correspondence to this author. e-mail: ngaillar@hawaii.edu

c4 Address all correspondence to this author. e-mail: Huyen.Dinh@nrel.gov

c5 These authors were editors of this focus issue during the review and decision stage. For the JMR policy on review and publication of manuscripts authored by editors, please refer to http://www.mrs.org/jmr_policy

0Comments
Related Content