Structural engineering of copper oxide-based photocathodes produced via polymeric precursor solution method

• Grant number: 24/05567-3
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships abroad - Research Internship - Doctorate (Direct)
• Start date: June 01, 2024
• End date: May 31, 2025
• Field of knowledge: Physical Sciences and Mathematics - Physics - Condensed Matter Physics
• Principal Investigator: Flavio Leandro de Souza
• Grantee: Fabio Augusto Pires
• Supervisor: Sanjay Mathur
• Host Institution: Centro Nacional de Pesquisa em Energia e Materiais (CNPEM). Ministério da Ciência, Tecnologia e Inovação (Brasil). Campinas , SP, Brazil
• Institution abroad: University of Cologne (UoC), Germany
• Associated to the scholarship: 23/08273-8 - Interface engineering in nanostructured hematite photoanodes produced via polymeric precursor solution method for solar water splitting, BP.DD

Abstract

Developing photoelectrodes for solar water splitting is a challenge for materials scientists in the search for viable decarbonization alternatives of worldwide energy matrix and industrial processes in general. This internship research proposal aims at producing copper oxide-based photocathodes, employing the polymeric precursor solution (PPS) synthesis method used to produce hematite-based photoanodes in the main project linked to this proposal. Rationalizing copper oxide chemical instability in photoelectrochemical (PEC) devices, this project also searches to engineer protective layers using different deposition methods (ALD, CVD, mfCVD, PVD, etc) to address copper oxide photocorrosion. Moreover, an investigation on the role of different structures and morphologies of these layers in the PEC response will be carried out alongside stability tests of copper oxide-based photocathodes. Complementarily to the development of hematite photoanodes in the main project, producing efficient and stable photocathodes can be a step forward toward tandem PEC devices with bias-free operation.