ALTHOUGH the possibility of water photolysis has been investigated by many workers, a useful method has only now been developed. Because water is transparent to visible light it cannot be decomposed directly, but only by radiation with wavelengths shorter than 190 nm (ref. 1).

Electrochemical Photolysis of Water at a Semiconductor Electrode

Electrochemical Evidence for the Mechanism of the Primary Stage of Photosynthesis

We report a cobalt pyrite (cobalt disulfide, CoS2) thin film on glass as a robust, high-performance, low-cost, earth-abundant counter electrode for liquid-junction quantum dot-sensitized solar cells (QDSSCs) that employ the aqueous sulfide/polysulfide (S2–/Sn2–) redox electrolyte as the hole-transporting medium. The metallic CoS2 thin film electrode is prepared via thermal sulfidation of a cobalt film deposited on glass and has been characterized by powder X-ray diffraction and electron microscopy. Using the CoS2 counter electrode, CdS/CdSe-sensitized QDSSCs display improved short-circuit photocurrent density and fill factor, achieving solar light-to-electricity conversion efficiencies as high as 4.16%, with an average efficiency improvement of 54 (±14)% over equivalent devices assembled with a traditional platinum counter electrode. Electrochemical measurements verify that CoS2 shows high electrocatalytic activity toward polysulfide reduction, rationalizing the improved QDSSC performance. CoS2 is also le...

Eiichi Sugiyama

Papers

Photosensitized Electrolytic Oxidation of Iodide Ions on Cadmium Sulfide Single Crystal Electrode