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Study of the Mechanism of Photoactivated Hydrogen Evolution on a Silicon Photocathode with a-MoSx Thin-Film Catalyst

  • PHYSICOCHEMICAL FOUNDATIONS OF DEVELOPMENT OF MATERIALS AND TECHNOLOGIES
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Inorganic Materials: Applied Research Aims and scope

Abstract

Silicon cathodes for the efficient production of hydrogen in the photoelectrochemical process of water splitting have been created and studied. A photoactive layer on p-Si wafer was obtained by pulsed laser doping of the wafer with phosphorus from a solution of orthophosphoric acid. A film of amorphous molybdenum sulfide (a-MoSx) up to 4 nm thick was deposited on the surface of the modified n+p-Si wafer. This caused a significant increase in photocurrents in the acid solution as compared to the bare n+p-Si. The composition of the catalytic film was modified during the photoelectrochemical process of hydrogen evolution. The study of the energy bands at the interface of the a-MoSx heterojunction with the n+-Si layer showed that the reaction of hydrogen evolution proceeded, probably, because of electron tunneling through the a-MoSx film. Using the density functional theory, a thermodynamic analysis of the possible effect of chemical changes on the silicon surface and in the a-MoSx film itself on the efficiency of hydrogen catalysis was carried out.

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Funding

The study was carried out at National Research Nuclear University MEPhI at the expense of the Russian Science Foundation grant no. 19-19-00081, https://rscf.ru/project/19-19-00081/.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. National Research Nuclear University MEPhI, 115409, Moscow, Russia

    O. V. Rubinkovskaya, V. N. Nevolin, D. V. Fominski, R. I. Romanov, P. F. Kartsev & V. Yu. Fominski

  2. Nanchang Hangkong University, Nanchang City, China

    Jiang Hualing

Authors
  1. O. V. Rubinkovskaya
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  2. V. N. Nevolin
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  3. D. V. Fominski
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  4. R. I. Romanov
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  5. P. F. Kartsev
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  6. V. Yu. Fominski
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  7. Jiang Hualing
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Corresponding authors

Correspondence to O. V. Rubinkovskaya, V. N. Nevolin, D. V. Fominski, R. I. Romanov, P. F. Kartsev, V. Yu. Fominski or Jiang Hualing.

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Translated by Sh. Galyaltdinov

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Rubinkovskaya, O.V., Nevolin, V.N., Fominski, D.V. et al. Study of the Mechanism of Photoactivated Hydrogen Evolution on a Silicon Photocathode with a-MoSx Thin-Film Catalyst. Inorg. Mater. Appl. Res. 14, 241–248 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1134/S2075113323020405

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