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Project title

Fabrication of Al:ZnO/Ti:Fe2O3/ATM/Ag-PNP heterojunction based photoelectrode modified with Ag plasmonic nanoparticles for efficient solar water splitting

Primary Funding Agency

Irish Research Council

Co-Funding Organisation(s)

n/a

Lead Organisation

University of Dublin, Trinity College (TCD)

Lead Applicant

n/a

Project Abstract

One of the greatest societal challenges that we currently face is the growing scarcity and the environmental impact of fossil fuels used, which are used as fuel for energy production. In order to prevent rising costs related to production and using energy from fossil fuels and meet environmental targets, alternative green fuels must be developed and implemented. One of the most promising of these alternatives is hydrogen. Hydrogen possesses a high energy yield, can be easily stored, and environmentally safe. However, of the currently available hydrogen, the vast majority is still produced from fossil fuel-based sources. To enable hydrogen as a plentiful green source of fuel, alternative, efficient, and low-cost means of extraction of hydrogen must be developed. One of the most promising methods of green hydrogen production has been splitting of water molecules into hydrogen and oxygen by using solar light energy. For this purpose in the past decades, metal oxides have received huge attention due to their notable photoelectrochemical properties, low cost, and relatively low toxicity. In this project Fe2O3 (iron oxide-hematite) is proposed and investigated as a candidate material. Fe2O3 is considered an ideal material for this purpose since possesses properties ideal for water splitting and it is abundant, inexpensive, and non-toxic. The theoretical efficiency of Fe2O3 for water splitting is calculated to be as high as 14.6% while more than 10% efficiency is the required value for viable real-world use [1,2]. However, the maximum achieved efficiency of 4-5% is still quite low, those numbers were achieved by using quite sophisticated and not cost-effective methods, and therefore further improvements are required [1,2,8,9]. My aim is to modify Fe2O3 thin film by adding other atoms into its body and fabricate layered structure to enhance its water splitting efficiency by using facile cost-effective methods.

Grant Approved

�27,500

Research Hub

Climate related research

Research Theme

Achieving climate neutrality by 2050.

Start Date

01/09/2021

Initial Projected Completion Date

31/08/2022