I-III-VI2 (Copper Chalcopyrite-based) Thin Films for Photoelectrochemical Water-Splitting Tandem-Hybrid Photocathode

ABSTRACTThis presentation will investigate various parameters regarding the use of I-III-VI2 Copper Chalcopyrite-based materials for use in tandem-hybrid photocathodes capable of splitting water into hydrogen and oxygen gases in an acidic electrolyte. Constituent parts (fabricated at HNEI) of a proposed monolithically integrated hybrid photovoltaic/photoelectrochemical (PV/PEC) device were characterized separately and combined theoretically using electronic and optical models to simulate tandem operation to first indicate feasibility of matching existing materials. Robust CGSe2 photocathodes were focused on for the PEC cells and CIGSe2 and CISe2 devices were evaluated for the PV cells. Simulation suggested the hybrid PV/PEC system could pass enough light to produce up to 15.87mA/cm2, validating the feasibility and warranting the fabrication of stacked PV/PEC devices.