Graphene-Based Hole Selective Layers for High-Efficiency, Solution-Processed, Large-Area, Flexible, Hydrogen-Evolving Organic Photocathodes

Abstract

Regio-regular poly(3-hexylthiophene-2,5-diyl) (rr-P3HT), the work-horse of organic photovoltaics, has been recently exploited in bulk heterojunction (BHJ) configuration with phenyl-C61-butyric acid methyl ester (PCBM) for solution-processed hydrogen-evolving photocathodes, reaching cathodic photocurrents at 0 V vs. RHE (J0V vs RHE) of up to 8 mA cm-2. The photoelectrochemical performance of these photocathodes strongly depends on the presence of the electron (ESL) and hole (HSL) selective layer. While TiO2 and its sub-stoichiometric phases are consolidated ESL materials, the currently used HSLs (e.g., MoO3, CuI, PEDOTT:PSS, WO3) suffer electrochemical degradation under hydrogen evolution reaction (HER)-working conditions. In this work, we use solution-processed graphene derivatives as HSL to boost efficiency and durability of rr-P3HT:PCBM-based photocathodes, demonstrating record-high performance. In fact, our devices show cathodic J0V vs RHE of 6.01 mA cm-2, onset potential (Vo) of 0.6 V vs. RHE, ratiometric power-saved efficiency ({\phi}saved) of 1.11% and operational activity of 20 hours in 0.5 M H2SO4 solution. Moreover, the designed photocathodes are effectively working in different pH environments ranging from acid to basic. This is pivotal for their exploitation in tandem configurations, where photoanodes operate only in restricted electrochemical conditions. Furthermore, we demonstrate the scalability of our all-solution processed approach by fabricating a large-area (~9 cm2) photocathode on flexible substrate, achieving remarkable cathodic J0V vs RHE of 2.8 mA cm-2, Vo of 0.45 V vs. RHE and {\phi}saved of 0.31%. This is the first demonstration of high-efficient rr-P3HT:PCBM flexible photocathodes based on low-cost and solution-processed manufacturing techniques.