Hydrogen Production - Methods, Materials, Properties and Performance

The book presents an up-to-date overview on hydrogen production mainly from photoelectrochemical aspect and elaborates on photoelectrochemical cell. Theoretical principles, materials, deposition techniques, experimental methodologies, synthesis and characterization are discussed in detail. With abundant project experiences, the book is an essential reference for energy physicists, chemists and engineers.Biographical NoteRavindra Nuggehalli, New Jersey Institute of Technology, Newark, USTable of Contents 1 INTRODUCTION 1.1 Objective and Scope of Work 1.2 Synopsis 2 BACKGROUND 2.1 Hydrogen: Future Fuel 2.2 Photoelectrochemistry of Water Decomposition 2.2.l Principles 2.2.2 Formation of Electrochemical Chain of PEC 2.3 Materials Aspects of Photoelectrochemical Cells 2.3.1 Bandgap 2.3.2 Helmholtz Potential Barrier 2.3.3 Schottky Barrier 2.3.4 Flat-band Potential 2.3.5 Electrical Resistance 2.3.6 Corrosion and Photo-Corrosion Resistance 2.4 Impact of Bandgap of Photo-Electrode Material on Solar Energy Spectrum 2.5 Literature Review 2.6 Zinc Oxide 2.6.1 Introduction 2.6.2 Crystal Structure 2.6.3 Lattice Parameters 2.6.4 Electrical Properties and Bandgap 2.6.5 Mechanical Properties 2.6.6 Thermal Expansion Coefficient, Thermal Conductivity, and Specific Heat 2.6.7 Optical Properties 2.6.8 Doping of ZnO 2.6.9 Bandgap Engineering 2.7 Cobalt-Based Spinel Oxides INSERT – OTHER MATERIALS SUCH AS TiO2 etc. 3 DEPOSITION TECHNIQUES 3.1 Introduction 3.1.1 Sputtering 3.1.2 Interaction of Ion and Surface of Solid 3.1.3 Mechanism of Sputtering 3.2 Sputtering Modes 3.2.1 DC Sputtering 3.2.2 RF Sputtering 3.2.3 Ion-Beam Sputtering 3.2.4 Bias Sputtering 3.2.5 Reactive Sputtering 3.2.6 Magnetron Sputtering 4 EXPERIMENTAL METHODOLOGIES 4.1 RF Magnetron Sputtering System 4.2 Substrate Preparation 4.2.1 Substrate Mounting 4.2.2 Deposition Parameters 5 CHARACTERIZATION TECHNIQUES 5.1 Surface Profilometry 5.2 Scanning Electron Microscopy 5.3 X-Ray Diffraction 5.4 Atomic Force Microscopy 5.5 Secondary-Ion Mass Spectroscopy 5.6 X-Ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy 5.7 Transmission Electron Microscopy 5.8 Focused Ion Beam Microscope 5.9 Spectrophotometer 5.10 n & k analyzer 5.11 Photoelectrochemical Cell 6 RESULTS AND DISCUSSION 6.1 Bandgap Narrowing of ZnO:N Films by Varying RF Sputtering Power in O2/N2 Mixtures 6.2 Photoelectrochemical Properties of N-Incorporated ZnO Films 6.3 Synthesis of Bandgap-Reducedp-type ZnO Films by Cu Incorporation 6.4 Carrier Concentration Tuning of Bandgap-Reduced p-type ZnO Films by Co-Doping of Cu and Ga 6.5 Enhanced Photoelectrochemical Responses of ZnO Films through Ga and N Co-Doping 6.6 Effect of Substrate Temperature on Photoelectrochemical Responses of ZnO Films Co-Doped by Ga and N 6.7 Phase Separation of Ga and N Co-Incorporated ZnO Films and Its Effect on Photo-Response 6.8 Enhancement of Photoelectrochemical Response by Aligned Nanorods in ZnO Thin Films 6.9 Effect of Gas Flow Rate for Forming Aligned Nanorods in ZnO Thin Films 6.10 Synthesis of Nanocoral Structure in ZnO films and Their Impact on Photoelectrochemical Response 6.11 Synthesis and Characterization of ZnO:N Films Using ZnO Target 6.12 Synthesis and Characterization of Al and N Co-Doped ZnO Films 6.13 Effect of Gas Ambient on Synthesis of Al and N Co-Doped ZnO Films. 6.14 Synthesis and Characterization of ZnO and GaN Solid-Solution Films 6.15 Effect of Gas Ambient and Varying RF Sputtering Power on ZnO and GaN Solid Solution Films 6.16 Synthesis and Characterization of Ternary Cobalt Spinel Oxides 6.17 Synthesis and Characterization of CoAl2O4—FeO3 p-n Nanocomposite Electrodes 6.18 Synthesis and Characterization of Cu-W-Oxide Films 6.19 Synthesis and Characterization of Cu-Ti-Oxide Films 6.20 Synthesis and Characterization of Cu-Sn-Oxide Films 6.21 Synthesis and Characterization of Doped Cu-Ti-Oxide Films 6.22 Synthesis and Characterization of Doped Cu-W-Oxide Films INSERT RESULTS & DISCUSSION ON OTHER MATERIALS 7 SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS REFERENCES