Photoelectrochemical photoelectrode for water splitting capable of scale-up and water splitting apparatus including the same

Abstract

The present disclosure relates to a photoelectrochemical photoelectrode for water splitting, which includes a plate-type photoelectrode including a transparent electrode substrate and a photoanode layer disposed on the transparent electrode substrate, wherein the plate-type photoelectrode exists in a plural number, and the plural plate-type photoelectrodes are disposed in such a manner that the transparent electrode substrate of one photoelectrode may face the photoanode layer of the other photoelectrode, while being spaced apart from each other. In this manner, it is possible to scale-up the photoelectrochemical photoelectrode for water splitting, while providing improved water splitting performance.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A photoelectrochemical photoelectrode for water splitting, which comprises a plate-type photoelectrode comprising a transparent electrode substrate and a photoanode layer disposed on the transparent electrode substrate, wherein the plate-type photoelectrode exists in a plural number, and the plural plate-type photoelectrodes are spaced apart from each other by a predetermined interval so that they may be disposed face-to-face. 
     
     
         2 . The photoelectrochemical photoelectrode for water splitting according to  claim 1 , which further comprises a reflector which reflects the light transmitted through all of the plural photoelectrodes toward a rear photoelectrode side opposite to a front photoelectrode receiving light irradiation directly, upon the light irradiation. 
     
     
         3 . The photoelectrochemical photoelectrode for water splitting according to  claim 2 , wherein the reflector is disposed in the shape of a plate along one side of the rear photoelectrode. 
     
     
         4 . The photoelectrochemical photoelectrode for water splitting according to  claim 3 , wherein the reflector is installed to form an angle of 3-45° with the rear photoelectrode. 
     
     
         5 . The photoelectrochemical photoelectrode for water splitting according to  claim 2 , wherein the reflector comprises any one material selected from glass, crystal, halite, metals and polymers. 
     
     
         6 . The photoelectrochemical photoelectrode for water splitting according to  claim 1 , which comprises two plate-type photoelectrodes. 
     
     
         7 . The photoelectrochemical photoelectrode for water splitting according to  claim 6 , wherein the two plate-type photoelectrodes are disposed in such a manner that the surfaces of the transparent electrode substrates having no photoanode layer may face each other. 
     
     
         8 . The photoelectrochemical photoelectrode for water splitting according to  claim 6 , wherein the photoanode layers disposed on each of the two plate-type photoelectrodes have the same thickness and are formed to have a thickness of 500-700 nm. 
     
     
         9 . The photoelectrochemical photoelectrode for water splitting according to  claim 6 , wherein the photoanode layers disposed on each of the two plate-type photoelectrodes have a different thickness, wherein the front photoanode layer receiving light irradiation directly has a thickness of 50-450 nm, and the remaining rear photoanode layer has a thickness of 600-1500 nm. 
     
     
         10 . The photoelectrochemical photoelectrode for water splitting according to  claim 6 , wherein the two plate-type photoelectrodes are disposed in such a manner that they may be spaced apart from each other by an interval of 0.1-1.0 mm. 
     
     
         11 . The photoelectrochemical photoelectrode for water splitting according to  claim 1 , wherein the plate-type photoelectrode is a square plate-type photoelectrode or a rectangular plate-type photoelectrode. 
     
     
         12 . The photoelectrochemical photoelectrode for water splitting according to  claim 1 , wherein the photoanode layer has a ratio of width and length of 1:1-1:100. 
     
     
         13 . The photoelectrochemical photoelectrode for water splitting according to  claim 1 , wherein the transparent electrode substrate is any one selected from FTO, ZnO, ITO, AZO, GZO, IZO, and IGZO. 
     
     
         14 . The photoelectrochemical photoelectrode for water splitting according to  claim 1 , wherein the photoanode layer comprises any one selected from bismuth vanadate (BiVO 4 ), hematite (Fe 2 O 3 ), and tungsten oxide (WO 3 ). 
     
     
         15 . A water splitting apparatus comprising the photoelectrochemical photoelectrode for water splitting as defined in  claim 1 .