Kang, Jin Soo Kim, Jin Lee, Myeong Jae Son, Yoon Jun Jeong, Juwon Chung, Dong Young Lim, Ahyoun Choe, Heeman Park, Hyun S. Sung, Yung-Eun 2024-01-20T01:32:17Z 2024-01-20T01:32:17Z 2021-09-01 2017-05-07 2040-3364 https://pubs.kist.re.kr/handle/201004/122747 Photoelectrochemical (PEC) cells are promising tools for renewable and sustainable solar energy conversion. Currently, their inadequate performance and high cost of the noble metals used in the electrocatalytic counter electrode have postponed the practical use of PEC cells. In this study, we report the electrochemical synthesis of nanoporous tungsten carbide and its application as a reduction catalyst in PEC cells, namely, dye-sensitized solar cells (DSCs) and PEC water splitting cells, for the first time. The method employed in this study involves the anodization of tungsten foil followed by post heat treatment in a CO atmosphere to produce highly crystalline tungsten carbide film with an interconnected nanostructure. This exhibited high catalytic activity for the reduction of cobalt bipyridine species, which represent state-of-the-art redox couples for DSCs. The performance of tungsten carbide even surpassed that of Pt, and a substantial increase (similar to 25%) in energy conversion efficiency was achieved when Pt was substituted by tungsten carbide film as the counter electrode. In addition, tungsten carbide displayed decent activity as a catalyst for the hydrogen evolution reaction, suggesting the high feasibility for its utilization as a cathode material for PEC water splitting cells, which was also verified in a two-electrode water photoelectrolyzer. English ROYAL SOC CHEMISTRY SENSITIZED SOLAR-CELLS ENHANCED ELECTROCHROMIC PROPERTIES NANOCRYSTALLINE TIO2 FILMS COUNTER ELECTRODE LOW-COST CATALYTIC ACTIVITY HYDROGEN-PRODUCTION EVOLUTION EFFICIENT CARBON Electrochemical synthesis of nanoporous tungsten carbide and its application as electrocatalysts for photoelectrochemical cells Article 10.1039/c7nr00216e 1 NANOSCALE, v.9, no.17, pp.5413 - 5424 NANOSCALE 9 17 5413 5424 scie scopus 000400865500007 2-s2.0-85021710851 Chemistry, Multidisciplinary Nanoscience & Nanotechnology Materials Science, Multidisciplinary Physics, Applied Chemistry Science & Technology - Other Topics Materials Science Physics Article SENSITIZED SOLAR-CELLS ENHANCED ELECTROCHROMIC PROPERTIES NANOCRYSTALLINE TIO2 FILMS COUNTER ELECTRODE LOW-COST CATALYTIC ACTIVITY HYDROGEN-PRODUCTION EVOLUTION EFFICIENT CARBON 전기화학 촉매 수전해 수소