Abstract
The photoelectrochemical (PEC) reduction of carbon dioxide to environmentally friendly fuels is a promising strategy to address the challenge of clean energy demand. Semiconductor photocathodes such as Cu(2)O enable the reduction of carbon dioxide, but their main drawback is their instability and susceptibility to photocorrosion. In this work, Al(2)O(3) and TiO(2) were utilized to enhance stability, photoelectrochemical activity, and charge transport facilitation, resulting in a 2.8-fold increase in generated photocurrent density (1.4 mA/cm(2) at -0.2 V vs. RHE). The experiments were conducted in a 0.5 M NaCl solution, simulating seawater conditions, to evaluate the performance and stability of the system in an environment closer to real-world applications.