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Efficient solar-hydrogen production has recently been realized on functionalized semiconductor-electrocatalyst systems in a photoelectrochemical half-cell in microgravity environment at the Bremen Drop Tower. Here, we report the experimental procedures for manufacturing the semiconductor-electrocatalyst device, details of the experimental set-up in the drop capsule and the experimental sequence during free fall.
Long-term space flights and cis-lunar research platforms require a sustainable and light life-support hardware which can be reliably employed outside the Earth's atmosphere. So-called 'solar fuel' devices, currently developed for terrestrial applications in the quest for realizing a sustainable energy economy on Earth, provide promising alternative systems to existing air-revitalization units employed on the International Space Station (ISS) through photoelectrochemical water-splitting and hydrogen production. One obstacle for water (photo-) electrolysis in reduced gravity environments is the absence of buoyancy and the consequential, hindered gas bubble release from the electrode surface. This causes the formation of gas bubble froth layers in proximity to the electrode surface, leading to an increase in ohmic resistance and cell-efficiency loss due to reduced mass transfer of substrates and products to and from the electrode. Recently, we have demonstrated efficient solar hydrogen production in microgravity environment, using an integrated semiconductor-electrocatalyst system with p-type indium phosphide as the light-absorber and a rhodium electrocatalyst. By nanostructuring the electrocatalyst using shadow nanosphere lithography and thereby creating catalytic 'hot spots' on the photoelectrode surface, we could overcome gas bubble coalescence and mass transfer limitations and demonstrated efficient hydrogen production at high current densities in reduced gravitation. Here, the experimental details are described for the preparations of these nanostructured devices and further on, the procedure for their testing in microgravity environment, realized at the Bremen Drop Tower during 9.3 s of free fall.
Our atmosphere on Earth is formed through oxygenic photosynthesis, a 2.3-billion-year-old process converting solar energy into energy-rich hydrocarbons, releasing oxygen as a by-product and using water and CO2 as substrates. Currently, artificial photosynthetic systems following the concept of the energetic Z-scheme of catalysis and charge transfer in natural photosynthesis are realized in semiconductor-electrocatalyst systems, showing hitherto a solar-to-hydrogen conversion efficiency of 19 %1,2,3. In these systems, semiconductor materials are employed as light absorbers which are coated with a thin, transparent layer of electrocatalysts4. Intense research in this field is promoted by the global quest for renewable energy systems with hydrogen and long-chain hydrocarbons making excellent candidates for an alternative fuel supply. Similar obstacles are also faced on long-term space missions, where a resupply of resources from Earth is not possible. A reliable life-support hardware is required, employing an efficient air revitalization unit providing about 310 kg of oxygen per crew member per year, not accounting for extravehicular activities5. An efficient solar water-splitting device, capable of producing oxygen and hydrogen or reduce carbon dioxide solar-assisted and in a monolithic system would provide an alternative, lighter route to currently employed technologies on the ISS: the air revitalization unit is comprised of a separated system with an alkaline electrolyzer, a solid amine carbon dioxide concentrator and a Sabatier reactor for the reduction of CO2.
Unprecedentedly, we realized efficient solar-hydrogen production in microgravity environment, provided by a 9.3 s during free-fall at the Bremen Drop Tower (ZARM, Germany)6. Using p-type indium phosphide as a semiconducting light-absorber7,8 coated with a nanostructured rhodium electrocatalyst, we overcame substrate and product mass transfer limitations to and from the photoelectrode surface, which is an obstacle in reduced gravity environments due to the absence of buoyancy9,10. The application of shadow nanosphere lithography11,12 directly on the photoelectrode surface allowed the formation of rhodium catalytic 'hot spots', which prevented hydrogen gas bubble coalescence and the formation of a froth layer in proximity of the electrode surface.
Herein, we provide experimental details of the p-InP photoelectrode preparation including surface etching and conditioning, followed by the application of shadow nanosphere lithography on the electrode surface and the photoelectrodeposition of rhodium nanoparticles through the polystyrene spheres. Furthermore, the experimental set-up in the drop capsule at the Bremen Drop Tower is described and details of the experimental sequence during the 9.3 s of free fall are provided. Sample installment and handling before and after each drop are outlined as well as the preparation of the drop capsule and its equipment to operate illumination sources, potentiostats, shutter controls and video cameras upon command.
1. Preparation of p-InP photoelectrodes
2. Fabrication of rhodium nanostructures
3. Photoelectrodeposition of rhodium nanoparticles
4. Photoelectrochemical experiments in microgravity
Etching the p-InP surface in Br2/ methanol for 30 s with consecutive photoelectrochemical conditioning of the sample by cycling polarization in HCl is well established in the literature and discussed (e.g., by Schulte & Lewerenz (2001)14,15). The etching procedure removes the native oxide remaining on the surface (Figure 2) and electrochemical cycling in HCl causes furthermore a conside...
For the preparation of photoelectrodes, it is important to minimize oxygen exposure between the etching and conditioning procedure and to purge the 0.5 M HCl before usage for about 10 - 15 min with nitrogen. Once the samples are conditioned, they can be stored under nitrogen atmosphere in 15 mL conical tubes for a few hours to allow sample transport and/ or preparation time of the polystyrene particle masks. In order to achieve a homogenous arrangement of PS spheres on the electrode substrate, it is important to form a c...
The authors have nothing to disclose.
K.B. acknowledges funding from the fellowship program of the German National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina, grant LPDS 2016-06 and the European Space Agency. Furthermore, she would like to thank Dr. Leopold Summerer, the Advanced Concepts Team, Alan Dowson, Dr. Jack van Loon, Dr. Gabor Milassin and Dr. Robert Lindner (ESTEC), Robbert-Jan Noordam (Notese) and Prof. Harry B. Gray (Caltech) for their great support. M.H.R. is grateful for generous support from Prof. Nathan S. Lewis (Caltech). K.B. and M.H.R. acknowledge support from the Beckman Institute of the California Institute of Technology and the Molecular Materials Research Center. The PhotoEChem Team greatly acknowledges funding from the German Aerospace Center (Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt e.V.) for the project no. 50WM1848. Furthermore, M.G. acknowledges funding from the Guangdong Innovative and Entrepreneurial Team Program titled "Plasmonic Nanomaterials and Quantum Dots for Light Management in Optoelectronic Devices" (no. 2016ZT06C517). Furthermore, the author team greatly acknowledges the effort and support from the ZARM Team with Dieter Bischoff, Torsten Lutz, Matthias Meyer, Fred Oetken, Jan Siemers, Dr. Martin Castillo, Magdalena Thode and Dr. Thorben Könemann. It is also thankful for enlightening discussions with Prof. Yasuhiro Fukunaka (Waseda University), Prof. Hisayoshi Matsushima (Hokkaido University) and Dr. Slobodan Mitrovic (Lam Research).
Name | Company | Catalog Number | Comments |
12.7 mm XZ Dovetail Translation Stage with Baseplate, M4 Taps (4 x) | Thorlabs | DT12XZ/M | |
Beam splitters (2 x) | Thorlabs | CM1-BS013 | 50:50 400-700nm |
Beamsplitters (2 x) | Thorlabs | CM1-BS014 | 50:50 700-1100nm |
Ohmic back contact: 4 nm Au, 80 nm Zn, 150 nm Au | Out e.V., Berlin, Germany | https://www.out-ev.de/english/index.html | Company provides custom made ohmic back contacts |
Glass tube, ca. 10 cm, inner diameter about 4 mm | E.g., Gaßner Glasstechnik | Custom made | |
p-InP wafers, orientation 111A, Zn doping concentration: 5 x 10^17 cm^-3 | AXT Inc. Geo Semiconductor Ltd. Switzerland | Custom made | |
Photoelectrochemical cell for terrestrial experiments | E.g., glass/ materials workshop | Custom made | |
Matrox 4Sight GPm (board computer) | Matrox imaging | Ivy Bridge, 7 x Cable Ace power I/O HRS 6p, open 10m, Power Adapter for Matrox 4sight GPm, Samsung 850 Pro 2,5" 1 TB, Solid State Drive in exchange for the 250Gb hard drive | |
2-propanol | Sigma Aldrich | I9516-500ML | |
35mm Kowa LM35HC 1" Sensor F1.4 C-mount (2 x) | Basler AG | ||
Acetone | Sigma Aldrich | 650501-1L | |
Ag/AgCl (3 M KCl) reference electrode | WPI | DRIREF-5 | |
Aluminium breadboard, 450 mm x 450 mm x 12.7mm, M6 Taps (2 x) | Thorlabs | MB4545/M | |
Beaker, 100 mL | VWR | 10754-948 | |
Black epoxy | Electrolube | ER2162 | |
Bromine | Sigma Aldrich | 1.01945 EMD Millipore | |
Colour camera (2 x) | Basler AG | acA2040-25gc | |
Conductive silver epoxy | MG Chemicals | 8331-14G | |
Copper wire | E.g., Sigma Aldrich | 349224-150CM | |
Ethanol | Sigma Aldrich | 459844-500ML | |
Falcon tubes, 15 mL | VWR | 62406-200 | |
Glove bags | Sigma Aldrich | Z530212 | |
Hydrochloric acid (1 M) | Sigma Aldrich | H9892 | |
Magnetic stirrer | VWR | 97042-626 | |
Methanol | Sigma Aldrich | 34860-100ML-R | |
Microscope slides | VWR | 82003-414 | |
MilliQ water | |||
NIR camera (2 x) | Basler AG | acA1300-60gm | |
Nitrogen, grade 5N | Airgas | NI UHP300 | |
Ø 1" Stackable Lens Tubes (6 x) | Thorlabs | SM1L03 | |
O2 Plasma Facility | |||
OEM Flange to SM Thread Adapters (4 x) | Thorlabs | SM1F2 | |
Parafilm | VWR | 52858-000 | |
Pasteur pipette | VWR | 14672-380 | |
Perchloric acid (1 M) | Sigma Aldrich | 311421-50ML | |
Petri dish | VWR | 75845-546 | |
Photoelectrochemical cell for microgravity experiments | E.g., glass/ materials workshop | ||
Polystyrene particles, 784 nm, 5 % (w/v) | Microparticles GmbH | 0.1-0.99 µm size (50 mg/ml): 10 ml, 15 ml, 50 ml | |
Potentiostats (2 x) | Biologic | SP-200/300 | |
Pt counter electrode | ALS-Japan | 12961 | |
Rhodium (III) chlorid | Sigma Aldrich | 520772-1G | |
Shutter control system (2 x) | |||
Silicon reference photodiode | Thorlabs | FDS1010 | |
Sodium chlorid | Sigma Aldrich | 567440-500GM | |
Stands and rods to fix the cameras | VWR | ||
Sulphuric acid (0.5 M) | Sigma Aldrich | 339741-100ML | |
Telecentric High Resolution Type WD110 series Type MML1-HR110 | Basler AG | ||
Toluene | Sigma Aldrich | 244511-100ML | |
Various spare beakers and containers for leftover perchloric acid etc for the drop tower | VWR | ||
W-I lamp with light guides (2 x) | Edmund Optics | Dolan-Jenner MI-150 Fiber Optic Illuminator | |
CM-12 electron microscope with a twin objective lens, CCD camera (Gatan) system and an energy dispersive spectroscopy of X- rays (EDS) system) | Philips | ||
Dimension Icon AFM, rotated symmetric ScanAsyst-Air tips (silicon nitride), nominal tip radius of 2 nm | Bruker |
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