Rational Design of Photoelectrochemical Perovskite-BiVO4 Devices for Scalable Fuel Production
Metal halide perovskites have emerged as promising alternatives to commonly employed light absorbers for solar fuel synthesis, enabling unassisted photoelectrochemical (PEC) water splitting[1,3] and CO2 reduction to syngas.[2,4] While the bare perovskite light absorber is rapidly degraded by moisture, recent developments in the device structure have led to substantial advances in the device stability. Here, we give an overview of the latest progress in perovskite PEC devices, introducing design principles to improve their performance and reliability. For this purpose, we will discuss the role of charge selective layers in increasing the device photocurrent and photovoltage, by fine-tuning the band alignment and enabling efficient charge separation. A further beneficial effect of hydrophobicity is revealed by comparing devices with different hole transport layers (HTLs).[1,3] On the manufacturing side, we will provide new insights into how appropriate encapsulation techniques can extend the device lifetime to a few days under operation in aqueous media.[1,2] To this end, we replace low melting alloys with graphite epoxy paste as a conductive, hydrophobic and low-cost encapsulant.[3,5] The combined advantages of these approachesare demonstrated in aperovskite-BiVO4 tandem device archiving selective unassisted CO2 reduction to syngas.[4] These design principles are successfully applied to an underexplored BiOI light absorber, increasing the photocathode stability towards hydrogen evolution from minutes to months.[6] Finally, we take a glance at the next steps required for scalable solar fuels production, showcasing our latest progress in terms of device manufacturing. A suitable choice of materials can decrease the device cost tenfold and expand the device functionality.[7] Such materials are compatible with large-scale, automated fabrication processes, which present the most potential towards future real-world applications.[8]
Virgil Andrei was born and raised in Bucharest, Romania. He obtained his Bachelor and Master degrees in chemistry from Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Germany, where he studied earth-abundant thermoelectric materials. In 2016, he joined the group of Prof. Erwin Reisner, at the University of Cambridge. During his PhD, he developed “artificial leaf” devices which interface lead halide perovskite light absorbers with suitable inorganic and molecular electrocatalysts for unassisted water splitting and syngas production. His work placed a strong focus on improving the device performance, stability and scalability, whereas emerging technologies such as 3D printing were introduced to construct low-cost solar reactors. Virgil is currently a Research Fellow at St John’s College, Cambridge.
He investigates the upscaling of artificial leaves towards commercial applications, taking real-world operation and outdoor conditions into account. Virgil recently joined the group of Prof. Peidong Yang as a Winton-Kavli Exchange Fellow to study the photoelectrochemical conversion of carbon dioxide into higher-value products.
[1] Andrei, V. et al. Adv. Energy Mater. 2018, 8, 1801403.
[2] Andrei, V.; Reuillard, B.; Reisner, E. Nat. Mater. 2020, 19, 189–194.
[3] Pornrungroj, C.; Andrei, V et al. Adv. Funct. Mater. 2021, 31, 2008182.
[4] Rahaman, M.; Andrei, V. et al. Energy Environ. Sci. 2020, 13, 3536–3543.
[5] Andrei, V.; Bethke, K.; Rademann, K. Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys. 2016, 18, 10700–10707.
[6] Andrei, V.; Jagt, R. A. et al. Nat. Mater. 2022. DOI: 10.1038/s41563-022-01262-w.