Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

SOLAR FUELS

Composition effects come to the surface

Nature Energy volume 6, pages 217–218 (2021)Cite this article

Subjects

Metal oxide photoanodes are promising for solar-driven water oxidation, but a greater understanding of surfaces is required to minimize efficiency losses. New research shows that controlling terminal compositions of otherwise identical facets of complex oxides has a profound impact on photoelectrochemical function.

Photoelectrochemical conversion of solar energy to chemicals provides a route to sustainably produce high energy density fuels and to address the intermittent nature of sunlight as a power source. Semiconductor photoelectrodes serve as the engines of such systems. These materials must efficiently capture solar radiation, facilitate charge separation, and deliver charge carriers with sufficient electrochemical potential to drive the desired redox reactions, all while remaining chemically stable.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Rent or buy this article

Get just this article for as long as you need it

$39.95

Learn more

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Fig. 1: Effect of surface termination on photoelectrochemical properties of BiVO4 photoanodes.

References

  1. Lee, D. K., Lee, D., Lumley, M. A. & Choi, K.-S. Chem. Soc. Rev. 48, 2126–2157 (2019).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  2. Sivula, K. & van de Krol, R. Nat. Rev. Mater. 1, 15010 (2016).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  3. Li, D. et al. ACS Energy Lett. 4, 825–831 (2019).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  4. Song, J. et al. ACS Catal. 8, 5952–5962 (2018).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  5. Hu, J., Chen, W., Zhao, X., Su, H. & Chen, Z. ACS Appl. Mater. Interfaces 10, 5475–5484 (2018).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  6. Lee, D. et al. Nat. Energy https://doi.org/10.1038/s41560-021-00777-x (2021).

  7. Toma, F. M. et al. Nat. Commun. 7, 12012 (2016).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  8. Lee, D. K. & Choi, K.-S. Nat. Energy 3, 53–60 (2018).

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Walter Schottky Institute, Technische Universität München, Garching, Germany

    Ian D. Sharp

  2. Physics Department, Technische Universität München, Garching, Germany

    Ian D. Sharp

Authors
  1. Ian D. Sharp
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Ian D. Sharp.

Ethics declarations

Competing interests

The author declares no competing interests.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and Permissions

About this article

Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Sharp, I.D. Composition effects come to the surface. Nat Energy 6, 217–218 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41560-021-00790-0

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41560-021-00790-0

Search

Advanced search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing