In solar photochemistry, much current research is focused on developing integrated chemical systems that can orchestrate the water splitting reaction.  One such architecture is a dye-sensitized solar cell in which the anode is catalyzed to drive water oxidation.  Back electron transfer from TiO2 to the sensitizer molecule is typically faster than water oxidation, resulting in low efficiency.  We have recently shown that a core-shell electrode geometry increases the quantum efficiency for water splitting.  The current study uses transient absorbance spectroscopy to measure electron transfer rates in these systems as a function of the thickness and band energetics of the core and shell materials, which are wide bandgap oxide semiconductors.  Uniform oxide films of nanometer thickness were grown on porous TiO2 and SnO2 electrodes using atomic layer deposition (ALD). This technique offers precise control over the shell thickness and composition, which can be correlated with forward and back electron transfer rates.

Spectroscopic study of electron transfer rates in water-splitting dye sensitized solar cells based on core-shell electrodes

244th National Meeting (2012)

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