Photoelectrochemical and Impedance Spectroscopic Analysis of Amorphous Si for Light-Guided Electrodeposition and Hydrogen Evolution Reaction

For more efficient photoelectrochemical water splitting, there is a dilemma that a photoelectrode needs both light absorption and electrocatalytic faradaic reaction. One of the promising strategies is to deposit a pattern of electrocatalysts onto a semiconductor surface, leaving sufficient bare surface for light absorption while minimizing concentration overpotential as well as resistive loss at the ultramicroelectrodes for faradaic reaction. This scheme can be successfully realized by “maskless” direct photoelectrochemical patterning of electrocatalyst onto an SiO_x/amorphous Si (a-Si) surface by the light-guided electrodeposition technique. Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy at various pHs tells us much about how it works. The surface states at the SiO_x/a-Si interface can mediate the photogenerated electrons for hydrogen evolution, whereas electroactive species in the solution undergo outer-sphere electron transfer, taking electrons tunneling across the SiO_x layer from the conduction band. In addition to previously reported long-distance lateral electron transport behavior at a patterned catalyst/SiO_x/a-Si interface, the charging process of the surface states plays a crucial role in proton reduction, leading to deeper understanding of the operation mechanisms for photoelectrochemical water splitting.