Hydrogen production via seawater splitting
AssigneeThe Regents of the University of Michigan
InventorsWan Jae Dong, Yixin Xiao, Ke Yang, Victor S. Batista, Zetian Mi
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Abstract
A method of hydrogen production includes providing a solution and immersing a device in the solution. The device includes a substrate having a surface, an array of conductive projections supported by the substrate and extending outward from the surface of the substrate, and a plurality of catalyst nanoparticles disposed over the array of conductive projections. The solution includes dissolved sodium chloride (NaCl).
Claims35
A method of hydrogen production, the method comprising:
- providing a solution;
- and
- immersing a device in the solution, the device comprising:
- a substrate having a surface;
- an array of conductive projections supported by the substrate and extending outward from the surface of the substrate;
- and
- a plurality of catalyst nanoparticles disposed over the array of conductive projections;
- wherein the solution comprises dissolved sodium chloride (NaCl).
A device comprising:
- a substrate having a surface and a backside opposite the surface;
- an array of conductive projections supported by the substrate and extending outward from the surface of the substrate;
- a plurality of catalyst nanoparticles disposed over the array of conductive projections;
- a first contact coupled to the backside and to which charge carriers photogenerated in the substrate in a photoelectrochemical (PEC) operational mode of the device move;
- and
- a second contact coupled to the array of conductive projections to provide charge carriers to the array of conductive projections in an electrochemical (EC) operational mode of the device.
A device comprising:
- a substrate having a surface;
- an array of conductive projections supported by the substrate and extending outward from the surface of the substrate, each conductive projection of the array of conductive projections comprising a metal-nitride semiconductor material;
- and
- a plurality of metal catalysts disposed over the array of conductive projections such that metal/metal-nitride interfaces are established;
- wherein the metal/metal-nitride interfaces are configured to promote hydrogen production via water splitting.
A method of fabricating a hydrogen production device, the method comprising:
- providing a substrate having a surface;
- growing an array of nanowires on the surface of the substrate such that each nanowire of the array of nanowires extends outward from the surface of the substrate, each conductive projection of the array of conductive projections comprising a metal-nitride semiconductor material;
- and
- depositing a plurality of metal catalyst nanoparticles across the array of nanowires such that metal/metal-nitride interfaces are established, the metal/metal-nitride interfaces being configured to promote hydrogen production via water splitting.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.