Physical Transformation AtlasPTA
Phenomenon · phenomenon:photoelectrochemical-effect

Photoelectrochemical effect

Photogenerated carriers at a semiconductor–electrolyte interface drive a redox reaction, splitting water into hydrogen and oxygen.

Electrochemistryfirst reported 1972also: Fujishima–Honda effect, photoelectrolysis

Atlas record: 10 claims reference this phenomenon — 7 established, 2 reported and 1 demonstrated.

Explorerelations · matrix context · routes · sources · cite

conditions: aqueous medium required · semiconductor required · illumination required
10claims1enumerated routes1routes with complete-composition evidence0candidate routes not searched5cited sources

Relations

drives · 1
Incident radiation flux—drives→Photoelectrochemical effectestablished
  • a semiconductor photoelectrode whose band edges straddle the water redox potentials, in an electrolyte, under illumination
converts into · 1
Photoelectrochemical effect—converts into→Chemical fuelestablished
  • hydrogen evolved at the counter-electrode
member of · 1
Photoelectrochemical effect—member of→Photoelectrochemicalestablished
implemented by · 1
Photoelectrochemical effect—implemented by→Photoelectrochemical celldemonstrated
bounded by · 4
Photoelectrochemical effect—bounded by→Nernst / Gibbs free-energy boundestablished
  • 1.23 V minimum for water splitting
Photoelectrochemical effect—bounded by→Landsberg limitestablished
  • the universal ceiling on converting thermal (solar) radiation into a chemical fuel; the gap-pair-specific detailed-balance solar-to-hydrogen limit is lower and awaits its own curated model
Photoelectrochemical effect—bounded by→PEC water-splitting ideal limit, single junctionestablished
  • photoelectrochemical water splitting with a single absorber; a datum states the basis 'PEC water splitting, single-junction absorber, AM1.5G'
Photoelectrochemical effect—bounded by→PEC water-splitting ideal limit, dual junctionestablished
  • photoelectrochemical water splitting with two absorbers in series; a datum states the basis 'PEC water splitting, dual-junction absorber, AM1.5G'
governed by · 2
Photoelectrochemical effect—governed by→PEC water-splitting realistic limiting efficiency, high-performance materials (Fountaine Real1)reported
Photoelectrochemical effect—governed by→PEC water-splitting realistic limiting efficiency, Earth-abundant materials (Fountaine Real2)reported

Matrix context

D = disequilibrium row · C = coupling family column. A cell reads the state of the atlas for that pair.

D.11 × C.19 · Incident radiation flux × Photoelectrochemical · Established
family: Photoelectrochemical (C.19)

Enumerated routes through this · 1

Cited sources · 5

  1. [1]
    A. Fujishima, K. Honda. Electrochemical photolysis of water at a semiconductor electrode (1972)
    Nature 238, 37–38 · doi:10.1038/238037a0 · crossref ✓ 2026-09-19 · record
  2. [2]
    M. Grätzel. Photoelectrochemical cells (2001)
    Nature 414, 338–344 · doi:10.1038/35104607 · crossref ✓ 2026-09-19 · record
  3. [3]
    P. T. Landsberg, G. Tonge. Thermodynamic energy conversion efficiencies (1980)
    Journal of Applied Physics 51, R1–R20 · doi:10.1063/1.328187 · crossref ✓ 2026-09-19 · record
  4. [4]
    Katherine T. Fountaine, Hans Joachim Lewerenz, Harry A. Atwater. Efficiency limits for photoelectrochemical water-splitting (2016)
    Nature Communications 7, 13706 (open access) · doi:10.1038/ncomms13706 · record
  5. [5]
    Elena Rozzi et al.. Green Synthetic Fuels: Renewable Routes for the Conversion of Non-Fossil Feedstocks into Gaseous Fuels and Their End Uses (2020)
    Energies 13(2), 420 (open access review) · doi:10.3390/en13020420 · record

Cite this entity

Physical Transformation Atlas (2026). entity phenomenon:photoelectrochemical-effect: Photoelectrochemical effect. Dataset revision rbfbfcbb70e57 (hash of the canonical data). https://physical-transformation-atlas.wldud5192.workers.dev/phenomenon/photoelectrochemical-effect

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