biostudies-literature00580Unknown7Shi XVarious tandem cell configurations have been reported for highly efficient and spontaneous hydrogen production from photoelectrochemical solar water splitting. However, there is a contradiction between two main requirements of a front photoelectrode in a tandem cell configuration, namely, high transparency and high photocurrent density. Here we demonstrate a simple yet highly effective method to overcome this contradiction by incorporating a hybrid conductive distributed Bragg reflector on the back side of the transparent conducting substrate for the front photoelectrochemical electrode, which functions as both an optical filter and a conductive counter-electrode of the rear dye-sensitized solar cell. The hybrid conductive distributed Bragg reflectors were designed to be transparent to the long-wavelength part of the incident solar spectrum (?>500?nm) for the rear solar cell, while reflecting the short-wavelength photons (?<500?nm) which can then be absorbed by the front photoelectrochemical electrode for enhanced photocurrent generation.Nature communications11943https://www.ebi.ac.uk/biostudies/studies/S-EPMC5476685biostudies-literatureUnassisted photoelectrochemical water splitting exceeding 7% solar-to-hydrogen conversion efficiency using photon recycling.PMC5476685Kim HKJeong HZhang KChoi IYPark JHMa MOh SJKim JKKwon JChoi ITShi X58falseUnassisted photoelectrochemical water splitting exceeding 7% solar-to-hydrogen conversion efficiency using photon recycling.Various tandem cell configurations have been reported for highly efficient and spontaneous hydrogen production from photoelectrochemical solar water splitting. However, there is a contradiction between two main requirements of a front photoelectrode in a tandem cell configuration, namely, high transparency and high photocurrent density. Here we demonstrate a simple yet highly effective method to overcome this contradiction by incorporating a hybrid conductive distributed Bragg reflector on the back side of the transparent conducting substrate for the front photoelectrochemical electrode, which functions as both an optical filter and a conductive counter-electrode of the rear dye-sensitized solar cell. The hybrid conductive distributed Bragg reflectors were designed to be transparent to the long-wavelength part of the incident solar spectrum (?>500?nm) for the rear solar cell, while reflecting the short-wavelength photons (?<500?nm) which can then be absorbed by the front photoelectrochemical electrode for enhanced photocurrent generation.2016-01-01T00:00:00Z2016 Jun2021-03-06T08:53:42Z2019-03-27T02:47:58ZS-EPMC54766852732457810.1038/ncomms11943