Photoaccelerated Water Dissociation Across One-Atom-Thick Electrodes.

ABSTRACT: Recent experiments demonstrated that interfacial water dissociation (H₂O ⇆ H⁺ + OH^-) could be accelerated exponentially by an electric field applied to graphene electrodes, a phenomenon related to the Wien effect. Here we report an order-of-magnitude acceleration of the interfacial water dissociation reaction under visible-light illumination. This process is accompanied by spatial separation of protons and hydroxide ions across one-atom-thick graphene and enhanced by strong interfacial electric fields. The found photoeffect is attributed to the combination of graphene's perfect selectivity with respect to protons, which prevents proton-hydroxide recombination, and to proton transport acceleration by the Wien effect, which occurs in synchrony with the water

SUBMITTER: Cai J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9756329 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature