Photoenhanced Water Electrolysis in Separate O-2 and H-2 Cells Using Pseudocapacitive Electrodes

Abstract

Water electrolysis has received much attention in recent years as a means of sustainable H-2 production. However, many challenges remain in obtaining high-purity H-2 and making large-scale production cost-effective. This study provides a strategy for integrating a two-cell water electrolysis system with solar energy storage. In our proposed system, CuO-Cu(OH)(2)/Cu2O was used as a redox mediator between oxygen and hydrogen evolution components. The system not only overcame the gas-mixing issue but also showed high gas generation performance. The redox reaction (charge/discharge) of CuO-Cu(OH)(2)/Cu2O led to a significant increase (51%) in the initial rate of H-2 production from 111.7 mu mol h(-1) cm(-2) in the dark to 168.9 mu mol h(-1) cm(-2) under solar irradiation. The effects of light on the redox reaction of CuO-Cu(OH)(2)/Cu2O during water electrolysis were investigated by in situ X-ray absorption and photoemission spectroscopy. These results suggest that surface oxygen vacancies are created under irradiation and play an important role in increased capacitance and gas generation. These findings provide a new path to direct storage of abundant solar energy and low-cost sustainable hydrogen production.