Abstract: Since the first demonstration of photoelectrochemical water splitting using TiO2, this route to renewable hydrogen fuel has been pursued with great endeavor. Some of the most promising materials for water oxidation are metal oxides, as they are often water stable, show high resistance to photocorrosion and can be grown by low cost and upscalable methodologies such as chemical vapour deposition (CVD).
Our research is focused on both: (i) the development of upscalable CVD routes to efficient oxide materials for water splitting and (ii) understanding the factors that limit efficiency through studying charge carrier dynamics with time-resolved spectroscopy. In this talk I will present our recent work on the development of CVD routes to efficient WO3/ BiVO4 junction systems, our studies of their charge carrier dynamics, and also some fundamental work we have carried out that sheds some light on the water oxidation mechanism on TiO2