Solar-Powered Carbon Dioxide Conversions with Thin-Film Devices

A nanomaterial thin-film device provides a low-cost, facile fabrication pathway to commercialize the technology to the sustainable energy market. Metal oxide thin films have been fabricated to a photoelectrochemical cell by solar energy. The prototype device uses both low energy cost for manufacturing and low materials cost for devices. The self-modulated device platform can also find other applications in sensors and detectors. The resultant prototype device can be deployed to the automobile industry or power plants with very low initial costs. The device can also be made extremely compact and efficient. It uses solar energy as the only power source.