CuO/Pd composite photocathodes for photoelectrochemical hydrogen evolution reaction

CuO has been considered as a promising photocathodic material for photoelectrochemical (PEC) hydrogen evolution reaction (HER). In this work, CuO films were prepared by a facile and cost-effective method that involves solution synthesis, spin-coating and thermal treatment processes. The resulting CuO films had a monoclinic crystal structure with bandgap energy of 1.56 eV and a conduction band position of 3.73 eV below the vacuum level in borate buffer solution. The CuO films exhibited good PEC activity toward HER and the preparation conditions had great effect on the activity. The photoactivity of the CuO film decayed to approximately 19% of its original value after reaction for 10 h under illumination. The reduction of CuO to Cu2O has been confirmed to be a parallel competitive reaction against HER. The mismatched band structure of the resulting CuO/Cu2O heterojunction was believed to be the main cause of the decay of photoactivity. The photo-assisted electrodeposition method was developed to prepare CuO/Pd composite photocathode. The presence of Pd on CuO greatly increased the photocurrent especially at low overpotentials. In addition, the CuO/Pd composite exhibited significantly improved photostability compared to CuO. This work demonstrates the feasibility of increasing PEC activity and stability of CuO-based photocathodes by combining CuO with noble metal nanoparticles. •CuO films were prepared for photoelectrochemical (PEC) hydrogen evolution reaction (HER).•The photoactivity of CuO decreases significantly with increasing reaction time.•CuO can be reduced to Cu2O by photo-induced electrons during PEC HER.•Deposition of Pd on CuO improves the photoactivity toward HER.•The CuO/Pd composite exhibits superior photostability to CuO.