Enhanced CO 2 reduction capability in an AlGaN/GaN photoelectrode

Satoshi Yotsuhashi*, Masahiro Deguchi, Hiroshi Hashiba, Yuji Zenitani, Reiko Hinogami, Yuka Yamada, Kazuhiro Ohkawa

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

45 Scopus citations

Abstract

Light illumination of a gallium nitride photoelectrode creates separate electron-hole pairs that drive water oxidation and CO 2 reduction reactions. Here, we show enhanced photocurrent in an AlGaN/GaN device that consists of an unintentionally doped (uid-) AlGaN photoabsorption layer and an n +-GaN electrical-conduction layer. The production rate of formic acid by CO 2 conversion in the uid-AlGaN/n +-GaN photoelectrode is about double that in the uid-GaN/n +-GaN device. This improvement is most likely due to the effect of internal bias in the uid-AlGaN layer generated by the polarization effect, which improves electron-hole separation.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Article number243904
JournalApplied Physics Letters
Volume100
Issue number24
DOIs
StatePublished - Jun 11 2012
Externally publishedYes

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Physics and Astronomy (miscellaneous)

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