A solar responsive cubic nanosized CuS/Cu2O/Cu photocathode with enhanced photoelectrochemical activity

In this work, a solar responsive photocathode with the CuS/Cu 2 O/Cu cubic nanoparticles was developed to facilitate the separation of the electron/hole pairs so as to enhance the photoelectrochemical activity. The EIS and LSV results indicated the developed CuS/Cu 2 O/Cu photocathode showed better photoelectrochemical activity toward the oxygen reduction reaction than the Cu 2 O/Cu photocathode. Good stability of the developed CuS/Cu 2 O/Cu photocathode was confirmed by the photocurrent vs time measurement. Besides, the developed CuS/Cu 2 O/Cu photocathode was also assessed by incorporating it into a photocatalytic fuel cell with the lateral design for simultaneous wastewater treatment and electricity generation. It was shown that higher cell performance was achieved than the Cu 2 O/Cu photocathode. The performance of the photocatalytic fuel cell with the developed photocathode was then studied under various operating conditions. Experimental results indicated that increasing the light intensity and the Na 2 SO 4 electrolyte concentration and decreasing the liquid flow rate in the testing range could improve the cell performance. This study provides a new photocathode design for the photocatalytic fuel cell applications and other photoelectrochemical systems.