BPN640: p-InP nanopillars for highly efficient water splitting

The photoelectrochemical evolution of hydrogen using p-InP nanopillar arrays decorated with metallic co-catalyst is explored. The nanopillar devices exhibit an great enhancement in the conversion efficiency, as compared to planar substrates. This behavior is mainly attributed to the low surface reflectivity of nanopillar arrays along with the enhanced surface area for catalytic reactions. Of particular importance to this architecture is the use of InP as the absorber layer, which is known to have a low carrier surface recombination velocity, thereby minimizing the loss of photogenerated carriers at the surfaces.

Project end date: 02/06/12