Improved visible light driven photoelectrochemical properties of 3C-SiC semiconductor with Pt nanoparticles for hydrogen generation

We propose the n-type 3C-SiC with Pt nanoparticles (Pt NPs) as photo-anode for photoelectrochemical hydrogen (H-2) generation. We found that band-edge structure of 3C-SiC is suitable for H-2 generation, and the property can be optimized by dopant (nitrogen) concentration in 3C-SiC. We also confirmed that Pt NPs enhance photoelectrochemical properties showing 0.2%-0.8% higher Incident Photon-to-Current Efficiency than bare 3C-SiC in visible wavelength despite diminished light absorption. Solar-conversion efficiency increases approximately 6.3 times, and H-2 production is improved by 6.5 times with 33% of Faradaic efficiency. Lastly, 3C-SiC surface corrosion is effectively inhibited. (C) 2013 AIP Publishing LLC.