The U.S. Department of Energy's Working Group on Photoelectrochemical Hydrogen Production: Promoting Technology-Enabling
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1171-S09-03
THE U.S. DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY’S WORKING GROUP ON PHOTOELECTROCHEMICAL HYDROGEN PRODUCTION: PROMOTING TECHNOLOGY-ENABLING BREAKTHROUGHS IN SEMICONDUCTOR MATERIALS RESEARCH R. Garland Office of Hydrogen, Fuel Cells and Infrastructure Technologies Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy U.S. Department of Energy Washington, DC 20585 E. L. Miller Hawaii Natural Energy Institute University of Hawaii at Manoa 1680 East-West Road POST 109, Honolulu, Hawaii 96822 ABSTRACT
Photoelectrochemical (PEC) hydrogen production, using sunlight to split water, is an important enabling technology for a future “Green” economy which will rely, in part, on hydrogen as an energy currency. The traditional semiconductor-based PEC material systems studied to date, however, have been unable to meet all the performance, durability and cost requirements for practical hydrogen production.
Technology-enabling breakthroughs are needed in the development of new, advanced
materials systems, and toward this end, the U.S. Department of Energy’s Working Group on PEC Hydrogen Production is bringing together experts in analysis, theory, synthesis and characterization from the academic, industry and national-laboratory research sectors. Key Working Group activities, as described in this paper, include performing techno-economic analyses of large-scale PEC production systems and establishing standardized testing and screening protocols for candidate PEC materials systems. In addition, a number of Working Group “Task Forces” are focused on advancing critical PEC materials theory, synthesis and characterization capabilities for application in the research and development of broad-ranging materials systems of promise, including complex metal-oxide and -nitride compounds, amorphous silicon alloys, III-V semiconductors and the copper chalcopyrites. The current status of Working Group activities and progress is summarized.
INTRODUCTION
Photoelectrochemical (PEC) hydrogen production, the splitting of water into hydrogen and oxygen using sunlight, is an important enabling technology for a future Green Economy which will rely, in part, on hydrogen as an energy currency [1]. The traditional semiconductor-based PEC
material systems studied to date, however, have been unable to meet all the performance, durability and cost requirements for practical hydrogen production. For example, PEC semiconductors such as titanium-dioxide and other metal-oxides have proven to be stable in aqueous solutions, but suffer from low solar conversion performance due to their high band gaps [2, 3]. Based on these inherent limitations, it is becoming increasingly clear that new, more advanced materials will need to be developed. Technology enabling breakthroughs in materials R&D are needed for the success of PEC hydrogen production. Toward this end, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) currently funds a number of research institutions from the academic, industrial and national laboratory sectors with the objective of discovering, engineering and optimizing such a
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