Artificial solar fuel generators use sunlight and water, or carbon dioxide to create hydrogen or liquid fuels. The photoelectrochemical splitting of water or reduction of atmospheric carbon dioxide provides numerous materials design challenges for membranes within a practical water-splitting, or carbon dioxide reducing solar fuel device. Importantly, the membrane provides a pathway for proton or hydroxide transport and limits the transport of fuels from reacting at the opposite electrode. While membranes such as Nafion were developed with respect to optimized conductivity, membranes for solar fuels require optimization with respect to low permeability of the product fuels, such that they cannot react at the opposite catalyst surfaces leading to parasitic current densities that strongly decrease device efficiency. Moreover, the low concentration of atmospheric carbon dioxide presents additional challenges that membrane design can address. I will present the design, synthesis, and characterization of materials to address the multiple transport requirements that exist in practical solar fuel generators.

Design rules for membranes in artificial solar fuels generators

249th National Meeting (2015)

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