Unbiased Spontaneous Solar Fuel Production using Stable LaFeO(3) Photoelectrode

Photoelectrochemical (PEC) water splitting to produce solar fuel (hydrogen) has long been considered as the Holy Grail to a carbon-free hydrogen economy. The PEC concept to produce solar fuel is to emulate the natural photosynthesis using man made materials. The bottle-neck in realising the concept practically has been the difficulty in identifying stable low-cost semiconductors that meet the thermodynamic and kinetic criteria for photoelectrolysis. We have fabricated a novel p-type LaFeO(3) photoelectrode using an inexpensive and scalable spray pyrolysis method. Our nanostructured LaFeO(3) photoelectrode results in spontaneous hydrogen evolution from water without any external bias applied. Moreover, the photoelectrode has a faradaic efficiency of 30% and showed excellent stability over 21 hours. From optical and impedance data, the constructed band diagram showed that LaFeO(3) can straddle the water redox potential with the conduction band at −1.11 V above the reduction potential of hydrogen. We have fabricated a low cost LaFeO(3) photoelectrode that can spontaneously produce hydrogen from water using sunlight, making it a strong future candidate for renewable hydrogen generation.