The manganese-cadmium sulfide catalyzed silicon composite photocathode for water splitting

Xiaorong Cheng; Tong Ji; Jingtian Chen; Qingran Chang; Tianyang Yuan; Yuxuan Han; Yemin Hu; Huimin Cai; Graham Dawson

doi:10.1007/s10800-026-02514-2

The manganese-cadmium sulfide catalyzed silicon composite photocathode for water splitting

Xiaorong Cheng
, Tong Ji
, Jingtian Chen
, Qingran Chang
, Tianyang Yuan
, Yuxuan Han
, Yemin Hu
, Huimin Cai
, Graham Dawson^*

^*Corresponding author for this work

Department of Chemistry and Materials Science

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

Abstract

This work reported a novel composite photocathode consisting of Mn0.2Cd0.8S (MCS) deposited on pyramid-textured silicon for efficient solar hydrogen evolution. The MCS layer was synthesized via a hydrothermal route and deposited onto pyramid-textured silicon by a simple drop-coating method. The optimized Si/MCS-3 (3 drop-coating times) photocathode demonstrated a remarkable photocurrent density of −16.20 mA cm−2 at −0.80 VNHE, which was 33 times higher than that of bare silicon, along with a positively shifted onset potential (0.19 VNHE). Enhanced performance was attributed to improved light harvesting, favorable band alignment, and efficient charge separation at the Si/MCS interface. Furthermore, the MCS coating served as a protective layer, ensuring excellent stability over 60 h of continuous hydrogen evolution reaction (HER).

Original language	English
Journal	Journal of Applied Electrochemistry
Volume	56
Issue number	7
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1007/s10800-026-02514-2
Publication status	Published - 8 Jun 2026

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

SDG 7 Affordable and Clean Energy

Access to Document

10.1007/s10800-026-02514-2

Cite this

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title = "The manganese-cadmium sulfide catalyzed silicon composite photocathode for water splitting",

abstract = "This work reported a novel composite photocathode consisting of Mn0.2Cd0.8S (MCS) deposited on pyramid-textured silicon for efficient solar hydrogen evolution. The MCS layer was synthesized via a hydrothermal route and deposited onto pyramid-textured silicon by a simple drop-coating method. The optimized Si/MCS-3 (3 drop-coating times) photocathode demonstrated a remarkable photocurrent density of −16.20 mA cm−2 at −0.80 VNHE, which was 33 times higher than that of bare silicon, along with a positively shifted onset potential (0.19 VNHE). Enhanced performance was attributed to improved light harvesting, favorable band alignment, and efficient charge separation at the Si/MCS interface. Furthermore, the MCS coating served as a protective layer, ensuring excellent stability over 60 h of continuous hydrogen evolution reaction (HER).",

author = "Xiaorong Cheng and Tong Ji and Jingtian Chen and Qingran Chang and Tianyang Yuan and Yuxuan Han and Yemin Hu and Huimin Cai and Graham Dawson",

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doi = "10.1007/s10800-026-02514-2",

language = "English",

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TY - JOUR

T1 - The manganese-cadmium sulfide catalyzed silicon composite photocathode for water splitting

AU - Cheng, Xiaorong

AU - Ji, Tong

AU - Chen, Jingtian

AU - Chang, Qingran

AU - Yuan, Tianyang

AU - Han, Yuxuan

AU - Hu, Yemin

AU - Cai, Huimin

AU - Dawson, Graham

PY - 2026/6/8

Y1 - 2026/6/8

N2 - This work reported a novel composite photocathode consisting of Mn0.2Cd0.8S (MCS) deposited on pyramid-textured silicon for efficient solar hydrogen evolution. The MCS layer was synthesized via a hydrothermal route and deposited onto pyramid-textured silicon by a simple drop-coating method. The optimized Si/MCS-3 (3 drop-coating times) photocathode demonstrated a remarkable photocurrent density of −16.20 mA cm−2 at −0.80 VNHE, which was 33 times higher than that of bare silicon, along with a positively shifted onset potential (0.19 VNHE). Enhanced performance was attributed to improved light harvesting, favorable band alignment, and efficient charge separation at the Si/MCS interface. Furthermore, the MCS coating served as a protective layer, ensuring excellent stability over 60 h of continuous hydrogen evolution reaction (HER).

AB - This work reported a novel composite photocathode consisting of Mn0.2Cd0.8S (MCS) deposited on pyramid-textured silicon for efficient solar hydrogen evolution. The MCS layer was synthesized via a hydrothermal route and deposited onto pyramid-textured silicon by a simple drop-coating method. The optimized Si/MCS-3 (3 drop-coating times) photocathode demonstrated a remarkable photocurrent density of −16.20 mA cm−2 at −0.80 VNHE, which was 33 times higher than that of bare silicon, along with a positively shifted onset potential (0.19 VNHE). Enhanced performance was attributed to improved light harvesting, favorable band alignment, and efficient charge separation at the Si/MCS interface. Furthermore, the MCS coating served as a protective layer, ensuring excellent stability over 60 h of continuous hydrogen evolution reaction (HER).

U2 - 10.1007/s10800-026-02514-2

DO - 10.1007/s10800-026-02514-2

M3 - Article

SN - 1572-8838

VL - 56

JO - Journal of Applied Electrochemistry

JF - Journal of Applied Electrochemistry

IS - 7

ER -