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A composite semiconductor photoanode for water electrolysis

Nature volume 295, pages 312–313 (1982)Cite this article

Abstract

Photoelectrolysis of water by means of semiconductor photo-electrochemical cells has attracted much attention from the point of view of solar energy conversion1–5. Metal oxides such as TiO2, WO3, or Fe2O3 act as stable photoanodes, but they need an external bias for the photodecomposition of water to compensate for their too low surface band energies. We report here that water can be photodecomposed effectively without external bias by using a semiconductor/redox electrolyte/semiconductor junction (SES) as the photoanode.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Engineering Science, Osaka University, Toyonaka, Osaka, 560, Japan

    Yoshihiro Nakato, Nobuyuki Takamori & Hiroshi Tsubomura

Authors
  1. Yoshihiro Nakato
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  2. Nobuyuki Takamori
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  3. Hiroshi Tsubomura
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Nakato, Y., Takamori, N. & Tsubomura, H. A composite semiconductor photoanode for water electrolysis. Nature 295, 312–313 (1982). https://doi.org/10.1038/295312a0

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