A Review of Recent Progress on Silicon Carbide for Photoelectrochemical Water Splitting

Abstract

Solar water splitting based on semiconductor photoelectrodes is a promising route to convert solar energy into renewable hydrogen fuel. Since the pioneering work of photoelectrochemical (PEC) systems in 1972, a large variety of semiconductors such as oxides, sulfides, phosphides, and silicon have been studied in the context of PEC water splitting configuration. Among them, silicon carbide (SiC) exhibits an excellent energy band structure that straddles the water redox potentials. In particular, cubic SiC (3C-SiC), with a suitable bandgap of 2.36 eV, is favorable for visible sunlight absorption. Recently, 3C-SiC has attracted much interest in PEC water splitting. In this review, the progress, challenges, and prospects of using SiC for PEC water splitting are summarized.