Solar water splitting using photoelectrochemical cells (PEC's) is a promising pathway toward clean and sustainable storage of renewable energy. Practical realization of solar-driven synthesis of hydrogen and oxygen integrating light absorption and electrolysis of water has been challenging because of (1) the limited stability of good photovoltaic materials under the required electrochemical conditions, and (2) photovoltaic efficiency losses due to light absorption by catalysts, the electrolyte, and generated bubbles, or reflection at their various interfaces. Herein, we evaluate a novel integrated solar water splitting architecture using efficient silicon heterojunction photovoltaic cells that avoids such losses and exhibits a solar-to-hydrogen (STH) efficiency in excess of 10%. Series-connected silicon Heterojunction with Intrinsic Thin layer (HIT) cells generate sufficient photovoltage for unassisted water splitting, with one of the cells acting as the photocathode. Platinum is deposited on the back (dark) junction of this HIT cell as the catalyst for the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER). The photocathode is protected from corrosion by a TiO 2 layer deposited by atomic layer deposition (ALD) interposed between the HIT cell and the Pt, enabling stable operation for >120 hours. Combined with oxygen evolution reaction (OER) catalysts deposited on a porous metal dark anode, these PEC's achieve stablemore »
This content will become publicly available on September 13, 2023
Hydrodynamic dissection of Stentor coeruleus in a microfluidic cross junction
Stentor coeruleus , a single-cell ciliated protozoan, is a model organism for wound healing and regeneration studies. Despite Stentor 's large size (up to 2 mm in extended state), microdissection of Stentor remains challenging. In this work, we describe a hydrodynamic cell splitter, consisting of a microfluidic cross junction, capable of splitting Stentor cells in a non-contact manner at a high throughput of ∼500 cells per minute under continuous operation. Introduction of asymmetry in the flow field at the cross junction leads to asymmetric splitting of the cells to generate cell fragments as small as ∼8.5 times the original cell size. Characterization of cell fragment viability shows reduced 5-day survival as fragment size decreases and as the extent of hydrodynamic stress imposed on the fragments increases. Our results suggest that cell fragment size and composition, as well as mechanical stress, play important roles in the long-term repair of Stentor cells and warrant further investigations. Nevertheless, the hydrodynamic splitter can be useful for studying phenomena immediately after cell splitting, such as the closure of wounds in the plasma membrane which occurs on the order of 100–1000 seconds in Stentor .
- Award ID(s):
- 1938109
- Publication Date:
- NSF-PAR ID:
- 10393874
- Journal Name:
- Lab on a Chip
- Volume:
- 22
- Issue:
- 18
- Page Range or eLocation-ID:
- 3508 to 3520
- ISSN:
- 1473-0197
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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