Tantalum nitride photoanodes: a promising future for photoelectrochemical water splitting?

IF 8 2区工程技术 Q1 BIOTECHNOLOGY & APPLIED MICROBIOLOGY

Current Opinion in Chemical Engineering Pub Date : 2025-04-09 DOI:10.1016/j.coche.2025.101127

Mathieu Grandcolas , Annett Thøgersen , Ingeborg-Helene Svenum , Kevin Both , Athanasios Chatzitakis

引用次数: 0

Abstract

Photoelectrochemical (PEC) water splitting is a promising method for sustainable hydrogen production. Among potential materials, tantalum nitride (Ta₃N₅) has emerged as a leading candidate due to its favorable band gap and high theoretical efficiency. This review highlights recent advancements in the synthesis, doping, and surface modification of Ta₃N₅ photoanodes, which have enabled photocurrent densities approaching the material’s theoretical limit of 12.9 mA/cm² at 1.23 V vs. RHE. Despite these advancements, significant challenges remain, particularly in achieving long-term stability. We critically evaluate the feasibility of meeting the U.S. Department of Energy’s targets and provide insights into more achievable and realistic goals for PEC systems based on Ta₃N₅, focusing on efficiency, lifetime, and cost competitiveness.

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来源期刊

Current Opinion in Chemical Engineering BIOTECHNOLOGY & APPLIED MICROBIOLOGYENGINE-ENGINEERING, CHEMICAL

CiteScore

12.80

自引率

3.00%

发文量

114

期刊介绍： Current Opinion in Chemical Engineering is devoted to bringing forth short and focused review articles written by experts on current advances in different areas of chemical engineering. Only invited review articles will be published. The goals of each review article in Current Opinion in Chemical Engineering are: 1. To acquaint the reader/researcher with the most important recent papers in the given topic. 2. To provide the reader with the views/opinions of the expert in each topic. The reviews are short (about 2500 words or 5-10 printed pages with figures) and serve as an invaluable source of information for researchers, teachers, professionals and students. The reviews also aim to stimulate exchange of ideas among experts. Themed sections: Each review will focus on particular aspects of one of the following themed sections of chemical engineering: 1. Nanotechnology 2. Energy and environmental engineering 3. Biotechnology and bioprocess engineering 4. Biological engineering (covering tissue engineering, regenerative medicine, drug delivery) 5. Separation engineering (covering membrane technologies, adsorbents, desalination, distillation etc.) 6. Materials engineering (covering biomaterials, inorganic especially ceramic materials, nanostructured materials). 7. Process systems engineering 8. Reaction engineering and catalysis.