Photoelectrochemical hydrogen production utilizing metal oxide nanomaterials

PHYS 504

Abraham Wolcott, wolcott@chemistry.ucsc.edu, Department of Chemistry, University of California Santa Cruz, 1156 High Street, Santa Cruz, CA 95064, Tevye Kuykendall, tev@uclink.berkeley.edu, Department of Chemistry, University of California, Berkeley, Room BG6 Hildebrand Hall, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720, Wilson A. Smith, Physics and Astronomy, University of Georgia, Athens, Athens, GA 30602, Yiping Zhao, Physics and Astronomy Department, University of Georgia, Athens, GA 30602, and Jin Z. Zhang, zhang@chemistry.ucsc.edu, Dept. of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of California, Steinhart Way, Santa Cruz, CA 94575.
Increasing petroleum prices, along with growing evidence of global climate change due to CO2 emissions has prompted investigations into sustainable alternative energy (SAE) production. One possible SAE is hydrogen produced by photolysis on photoactive materials. Metal oxide nanostructures hold great potential for photovoltaic (PV), photocatalytic, and photoelectrochemical (PEC) applications. While thin films of various materials of both nanoparticle and nanorod morphologies have been widely utilized, there have been few inquiries into nanodisc structures. Here we extensively characterize WO3 nanodisks thin films as PEC cells for water splitting applications. Also examined are ZnO nanorod assemblies created via oblique angle deposition (OAD)and ZnO thin films via pulsed laser depostion (PLD). The nanomaterials have been examined with HRSEM, TEM, SAED, XRD, AFM and photoelectrochemistry. The photoassisted water splitting allows for oxygen evolution at the metal oxide photoanode, and hydrogen evolution at a metal cathode. Oxygen evolution, considered to be the limiting reaction in water splitting, has been found to depend on the morphology and crystallinity of individual metal oxide systems.

 

PHYS Poster Session - Nanostructured Materials and Nanophotonics
7:30 PM-10:00 PM, Wednesday, April 9, 2008 Morial Convention Center -- Hall A, Poster

Sci-Mix
8:00 PM-10:00 PM, Monday, April 7, 2008 Morial Convention Center -- Hall A, Sci-Mix

Division of Physical Chemistry

The 235th ACS National Meeting, New Orleans, LA, April 6-10, 2008