D. Mao et al., OPEN-CIRCUIT PHOTOVOLTAGE AND CHARGE RECOMBINATION AT SEMICONDUCTOR LIQUID INTERFACES, Journal of the Electrochemical Society, 141(5), 1994, pp. 1231-1236
A simple, quantitative relationship between the semiconductor surface
recombination velocity (S(r)) and the open-circuit photovoltage (V(oc)
) of photoelectrochemical systems was derived and verified experimenta
lly. Experimental results obtained for the n-Si/acetone-FeCp2+/0-LiClO
4 junction indicate that V(oc) is controlled by surface recombination.
Quantitative analysis of the results using the derived expression yie
lds values of the barrier height and S(r) that compare favorably with
published data. Application of the equation to other semiconductor/liq
uid junction cells suggests that the expression may be important in ev
aluating and understanding the behavior of a wide range of photoelectr
ochemical systems.