Electrode development for hydrogen production from water by photoelectrochemical method

In this study, ZnO/Cu2O was prepared by p-type Cu2O nano cube at different temperatures with electrochemical deposition (30, 40, 50 ve 60 °C) on ZnO. Additionally, ZnO/Cu(I) complex electrodes were obtained by contained diphenyl phosphinoaminoacetic acid and bipyrimidine dye sensitized Cu (I) phosphine complexes chemically coated on ZnO. The photocatalytic performance of ZnO/Cu2O and ZnO/Cu(I) complex electrodes had been investigated in photoelectrochemical cell on water splitting. Cu (I) phosphine complexes structure was elucidated by FT-IR, 1H,31P NMR, UV-Vis spectrometer and photoluminescence spectrometer. HOMO and LUMO energy levels of Cu (I) phosphine complexes were calculated by cyclic voltammetry. The crystal structure and flat band potential of ZnO/Cu2O electrodes synthesized at various temperature were determined by XRD and Mott-Schottky measurements, respectively. ZnO/Cu2O and ZnO/Cu (I) complex electrodes surface morphologies investigated by FESEM, photocatalytic performance of photoelectrochemical water splitting obtained by EIS and current density-potential measurements. ZnO/Cu2O 40 °C electrode among ZnO/Cu2O in various temperatures and ZnO/Cu(L2) electrode among ZnO/Cu (I) complex electrodes were determined as the most photocatalytic electrode on water splitting for photoelectrochemical cell.