Solar-Driven Water Splitting at 13.8% Solar-to-Hydrogen Efficiency by an Earth-Abundant Electrolyzer

Abstract

We present the synthesis and characterization of an efficient and low cost solar-driven electrolyzer consisting of Earth-abundant materials. The trimetallic NiFeMo electrocatalyst takes the shape of nanometer-sized flakes anchored to a fully carbon-based current collector comprising a nitrogen-doped carbon nanotube network, which in turn is grown on a carbon fiber paper support. This catalyst electrode contains solely Earth-abundant materials, and the carbon fiber support renders it effective despite a low metal content. Notably, a bifunctional catalyst-electrode pair exhibits a low total overpotential of 450 mV to drive a full water-splitting reaction at a current density of 10 mA cm-2 and a measured hydrogen Faradaic efficiency of ∼100%. We combine the catalyst-electrode pair with solution-processed perovskite solar cells to form a lightweight solar-driven water-splitting device with a high peak solar-to-fuel conversion efficiency of 13.8%.