The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Sep. 02, 2014
Filed:
Nov. 04, 2010
Tomohiro Kuroha, Osaka, JP;
Takaiki Nomura, Osaka, JP;
Kazuhito Hato, Osaka, JP;
Noboru Taniguchi, Osaka, JP;
Takahiro Suzuki, Osaka, JP;
Kenichi Tokuhiro, Osaka, JP;
Tomohiro Kuroha, Osaka, JP;
Takaiki Nomura, Osaka, JP;
Kazuhito Hato, Osaka, JP;
Noboru Taniguchi, Osaka, JP;
Takahiro Suzuki, Osaka, JP;
Kenichi Tokuhiro, Osaka, JP;
Panasonic Corporation, Osaka, JP;
Abstract
A photoelectrochemical cell () includes: a semiconductor electrode () including a conductor (), a first n-type semiconductor layer () having a nanotube array structure, and a second n-type semiconductor layer (); a counter electrode () connected to the conductor (); an electrolyte () in contact with the second n-type semiconductor layer () and the counter electrode (); and a container () accommodating the semiconductor electrode (), the counter electrode () and the electrolyte (). Relative to a vacuum level, (I) band edge levels of a conduction band and a valence band in the second n-type semiconductor layer (), respectively, are higher than band edge levels of a conduction band and a valence band in the first n-type semiconductor layer (), (II) a Fermi level of the first n-type semiconductor layer () is higher than a Fermi level of the second n-type semiconductor layer (), and (III) a Fermi level of the conductor () is higher than the Fermi level of the first n-type semiconductor layer ().