This study investigated the properties of a photoanode fabricated by depositing a p-type CdTe thin film on a CdS-coated FTO substrate (CdTe/CdS/FTO) via close-space sublimation. This CdTe/CdS/FTO electrode was found to work as a photoanode with a long absorption edge wavelength of 830 nm. In a CdTe-based photoanode such as this, the p–n junction formed at the CdTe/CdS interface promotes charge separation of photoexcited carriers and forces photogenerated holes to move toward the photoanode surface to promote oxidation reactions on the electrode surface. A MoO_x buffer layer was also found to play a crucial role in facilitating the transfer of photogenerated holes to surface reaction sites through decreasing the energy barrier at the interface between the CdTe and a surface protective layer. A biphotoelectrode photoelectrochemical cell composed of a CdTe-based photoanode and a CdTe-based photocathode exhibited a solar-to-hydrogen conversion efficiency of 0.22% without an external voltage in response to illumination by AM 1.5G light.

中文翻译：

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基于CdTe的光阳极在模拟阳光下从水中释放氧气

这项研究研究了通过近距离升华在CdS涂层的FTO基板（CdTe / CdS / FTO）上沉积p型CdTe薄膜而制造的光电阳极的性能。发现该CdTe / CdS / FTO电极用作具有830nm长吸收边缘波长的光阳极。在这样的基于CdTe的光阳极中，在CdTe / CdS界面上形成的p–n结促进了光激发载流子的电荷分离，并迫使光生空穴向光阳极表面移动，从而促进了电极表面的氧化反应。MoO _x还发现缓冲层在通过降低CdTe与表面保护层之间的界面处的能垒来促进光生空穴向表面反应位点的转移中起着关键作用。由基于CdTe的光阳极和基于CdTe的光阴极组成的双光电电极光电化学电池响应于AM 1.5G光的照射而在没有外部电压的情况下表现出0.22％的太阳能到氢的转换效率。