Thin silicon via crack-assisted layer exfoliation for photoelectrochemical water splitting.

ABSTRACT: Silicon (Si) has been widely investigated as a feasible material for photoelectrochemical (PEC) water splitting. Compared to thick wafer-based Si, thin Si (<50 μm thickness) could concurrently minimize the material usage allowing the development of cost-effective and flexible photoelectrodes for integrable PEC cells. This work presents the design and fabrication of thin Si using crack-assisted layer exfoliation method through detailed optical simulations and a systematic investigation of the exfoliation method. Thin free-standing Si photoanodes with sub-50 μm thickness are demonstrated by incorporating a nickel oxide (NiO_x) thin film as oxygen evolution catalyst, light-trapping surface structure, and a rear-pn⁺ junction, to generate a photo-current density of 23.43 mA

SUBMITTER: Lee Y 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8367840 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature