Multilayer oxide protection layer with multiple tunnelling paths for efficient and durable Si-based photocathode.
basic_science · Level V
Where this comes from
- Record sourced from PubMed, PMID 41547932.
- Also identified by DOI 10.1038/s41467-026-68665-0 and PMC identifier 12923844.
- Licence recorded as CC BY-NC-ND.
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Abstract
Constructing a low-resistance oxide protection layer is challenging but highly beneficial for realizing a practical photoelectrochemical device. The thickness of oxide layer strongly influences its behaviors of carrier transport and corrosion resistance, generally leading to a trade-off between efficiency and durability. Different from the previous methods, here we propose and demonstrate a universal approach to decouple the trade-off of oxide layer by multiple carrier-tunnelling paths. This approach with oxide/metal architecture ((O/M)<sub>n</sub>, n is the number of nano-scale repeating unit) enables low-resistance carrier transport as required for high efficiency, while allowing the layer to be sufficiently thick, which reinforces durability. This approach can be applied to various oxide-based layers, such as (TiO<sub>2</sub>/Fe)<sub>n</sub>, (CeO<sub>2</sub>/Fe)<sub>n</sub> and (TiO<sub>2</sub>/Pd)<sub>n</sub>. In addition, a good correlation between carrier dynamics and oxide/metal architecture is established by employing systematic photoelectrochemical-electrical measurements and simulation models. Here we show important contributions for further developing the practical photoelectrodes in photoelectrochemical devices and controlling the carrier transport behaviors in complex multilayer structure.