Development of solar energy converters with earth-abundant and environmentally friendly materials is one of the key routes explored towards a sustainable future. In this work, crystalline delafossite-phase CuAlO₂ and CuFeO₂ thin film solar water splitting photocathodes were fabricated using pulsed laser deposition. It was found that the desired delafossite phase was formed only after high temperature annealing in an oxygen-free atmosphere. The homogeneous delafossite bulk structure of the films was determined by correlating simulation results from first-principles calculations with synchrotron-based X-ray absorption near edge structure (XANES) spectroscopy. Both CuAlO₂ and CuFeO₂ photocathodes are active for solar water splitting, with the latter more efficient due to its narrower band gap and improved light absorption.

中文翻译：

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在 YSZ （001） 衬底上脉冲激光沉积 delafosite 氧化物薄膜作为太阳能水分解光阴极面


开发采用地球丰富且环保的材料的太阳能转换器是探索可持续未来的关键途径之一。在这项工作中，采用脉冲激光沉积制备了晶 delafossite 相 CuAlO₂ 和 CuFeO₂ 薄膜太阳能分解光阴极面。研究发现，只有在无氧气氛中高温退火后才能形成所需的 delafosite 相。通过将第一性原理计算的模拟结果与基于同步加速器的 X 射线吸收近边缘结构 （XANES） 光谱相关联，确定了薄膜的均匀德拉福石块体结构。CuAlO₂ 和 CuFeO₂ 光电阴极面对太阳能水分解具有活性，后者由于其更窄的带隙和更好的光吸收而效率更高。