March 21, 2016
Protective Semiconductor Coatings that Enable Solar Fuel Production. Way to go to make lots of real devices!
A solar device that could convert light directly into energy-rich fuels instead of electricity would revolutionize the ability to store energy from sunlight. Given previous investments in developing light-absorbing semiconductors for photovoltaics, adapting common photovoltaic materials like silicon and gallium arsenide for use in such a solar fuels generator would be advantageous. Unfortunately, these materials degrade rapidly when submerged in the aqueous solutions required to produce fuels. Read more…