Analysis of Optical Losses in a Photoelectrochemical Cell: A Tool for Precise Absorptance Estimation |
| |
| Authors: | Peter Cendula Ludmilla Steier Paolo A. Losio Michael Grätzel Jürgen O. Schumacher |
| |
| Affiliation: | 1. Institute of Computational Physics, School of Engineering, Zurich University of Applied Sciences, Winterthur, Switzerland;2. Laboratory of Photonics and Interfaces, Institute of Chemical Sciences and Engineering, école Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Lausanne, SwitzerlandPresent address: Department of Chemistry, Imperial College London, London SW7 2AZ, UK;3. Laboratory of Photonics and Interfaces, Institute of Chemical Sciences and Engineering, école Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland |
| |
| Abstract: | ![]()
Optical losses in a photoelectrochemical (PEC) cell account for a substantial part of solar‐to‐hydrogen conversion losses, but limited attention is paid to the detailed investigation of optical losses in PEC cells. In this work, an optical model of combined coherent and incoherent light propagation in all layers of the PEC cell based on spectroscopic measurements is presented. Specifically, photoelectrodes using transparent conductive substrates such as F:SnO2 coated with thin absorber films are focused. The optical model is verified for hematite photoanodes fabricated by atomic layer deposition and successfully used to determine wavelength‐dependent reflection, transmission, layer absorptances, and charge generation rates. Furthermore, the calculated absorptances enable 20–30% more accurate calculations of the absorbed photon‐to‐current efficiency of PEC cells. Our optical model is a powerful tool for the optimization of the optical performance of PEC cells focusing on single absorber or tandem configurations and represents a cornerstone of a complete (optical and electrical) model for PEC water splitting cells. |
| |
| Keywords: | absorptance APCE hydrogen optical losses water splitting |
|
|
