Reliable and Efficient Photo-electrochemical Water Splitting for Hydrogen Fuel

Project Description

The sun offers a clean inexhaustible source of energy with minimal environmental impact. This project will focus on applying modern material deposition techniques to improve the reliability and efficiency of silicon based solar water splitting cells which would allow for collection and storage of solar energy in the form of hydrogen fuel. The technological solution that we are proposing in this project based on our recent research is geared towards a very simple architecture using earth-abundant materials to keep costs to a minimum while employing anticorrosion layers to ensure that the finished product has sufficient lifetime to be competitive with, and potentially surpass existing forms of hydrogen production on a cost per kg basis. Solar water-splitting cells solve the important issue of intermittency that is an unavoidable problem with relying on solar energy. They offer the ability to capture the harvested energy and store it through the photo-electrolysis of water in the simplest chemical bond of all: H2. The efficient splitting of water so as to generate usable hydrogen fuel would mimic photosynthesis in plants, providing a clean fuel for our daily lives whose only emission byproduct would be water.