Defect control for high-performance green kesterite compound energy materials

R&D Focus Areas:
Electrolysis, Photochemical and photocatalytic processes, Synthetic fuels and chemicals

Lead Organisation:
University of New South Wales

Status:
Active

Start date:
May 2020

Completion date:
Estimated May 2024

Key contacts:
Professor Xiaojing Hao: xj.hao@unsw.edu.au

Funding:
AUD$888,000 – Australian Research Council

Project total cost:
AUD$1,068,000

Project summary description:
This aim of this project is to unlock the potential of green and cheap kesterite energy materials for its application as a photocathode of PEC (photoelectrochemical) devices, and full kesterite tandem PEC cells for solar fuel (e.g. hydrogen, ammonia) production. This will be realized by controlling and engineering defects of kesterite for high performance PV (photovoltaic) devices and PEC devices.

Related publications and key links:

• Accelerating electron-transfer and tuning product selectivity through surficial vacancy engineering on CZTS/CdS for photoelectrochemical CO₂reduction, Small, 17(31), 2021, 2100496.
  https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/smll.202100496

• Engineering a Kesterite‐Based Photocathode for Photoelectrochemical Ammonia Synthesis from NOx Reduction, Advanced Materials, 34, 2022, 2201670.
  https://doi.org/10.1002/adma.202201670

• Emerging chalcohalide materials for energy applications, Chemical Reviews, 123, 2023, 327-378.
  https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.chemrev.2c00422

• Earth-Abundant Photoelectrodes for Water Splitting and Alternate Oxidation Reactions: Recent Advances and Future Perspectives, Progress in Materials Science, 134, 2023, 101073.
  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pmatsci.2023.101073

• Fullerene grafted nitrogen and sulfur-doped graphene as catalytic-protective layer for efficient and stable CZTSSe photocathodes for hydrogen production (submitted to AFM)

Higher degree studies supported:
Three PhD students at the University of New South Wales are supported by this project.

Three ARC DECRAs at the University of New South Wales working in solar the hydrogen field are supervised by FT funded by this project.

 

Reviewed: April 2023