Plasmon-enhanced hierarchical photoelectrodes with mechanical flexibility for hydrogen generation from urea solution and
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RESEARCH ARTICLE
Plasmon‑enhanced hierarchical photoelectrodes with mechanical flexibility for hydrogen generation from urea solution and human urine Jiayong Gan1 · Bharath Bangalore Rajeeva1 · Zilong Wu1 · Daniel Penley1 · Yuebing Zheng1 Received: 4 July 2019 / Accepted: 24 October 2019 © Springer Nature B.V. 2019
Abstract We have demonstrated plasmon-enhanced flexible and hierarchical photoanodes for hydrogen production from human urine in a photoelectrochemical cell. The photoanodes consist of cobalt-doped α-Fe 2O3 nanorod arrays functionalized with Au nanoparticles and Ni(OH)2. The Au nanoparticles and Ni(OH)2 work as plasmonic nanostructures and urea oxidation catalyst, respectively. Benefiting from the plasmonic and catalytic effects, the photoanodes exhibit an AM 1.5 photocurrent of 5.0 ± 0.1 mA cm−2 (urea solution) and 7.5 ± 0.1 mA cm−2 (human urine) at 0.3 V versus Ag/AgCl. At a Pt counter electrode, continuous hydrogen gas evolution is achieved at a small bias. With their high performance and mechanical flexibility that facilitates the large-scale transportation and implementation in the field, the photoanodes are paving a sustainable way towards hydrogen production and urine treatment. Graphic abstract
Keywords Flexible photoelectrode · Hydrogen production · Photoelectrochemical cell · Urine · Plasmonic effects
1 Introduction Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (https://doi.org/10.1007/s10800-019-01369-0) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users. * Yuebing Zheng [email protected] 1
Walker Department of Mechanical Engineering, Materials Science and Engineering Program, Texas Materials Institute, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX 78712, USA
Sustainable hydrogen supply could help solve many energy challenges [1–8]. Despite being promising hydrogen sources, hydrazine and metal hydrides suffer from high cost, toxicity, flammability, and limited quantity [6]. Urea [CO(NH2)2] was proposed as an alternative hydrogen source for its high hydrogen content (6.71%), abundance, low cost, and non-flammability [6, 9, 10]. Millions of tons of human and animal urine produced on a daily
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basis, which adversely impacts the environment, has a concentration of urea ranging from 0.155 to 0.39 mole/L [11]. Therefore, it benefits both energy and the environment to generate hydrogen from urine. There are multiple approaches for hydrogen production from urea. One technique involves urea decomposition and high-temperature cracking of ammonia, which is energy-intensive with safety issue [12]. Another technique employs an external bias and a urea oxidation catalyst to electrolyze aqueous urea solution for hydrogen, which consumes a substantial amount of electricity [11, 13–17]. A more sustainable technique for hydrogen generation from urea in human urine is driven by solar cells that power an electrolyzer for urea electrolysis. Alternatively, a highperformance and portable photoelectrochemical (PEC) cell is promi
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