Title: photoelectrolytic cell
Long Title: IUPAC Gold Book - photoelectrolytic cell
DOI: 10.1351/goldbook.P04608
Status: current

Definition
A cell in which radiant energy causes a net chemical conversion in the cell, e.g. so as to produce hydrogen as a useful fuel. These cells can be classified as photosynthetic or photocatalytic. In the former case, radiant energy provides a Gibbs energy to drive a reaction such as \(\rm{H}_{2}\rm{O}\rightarrow \rm{H}_{2}+\frac{1}{2}\rm{O}_{2}\) , and electrical or thermal energy may be later recovered by allowing the reverse, spontaneous reaction to proceed. In a photocatalytic cell the photon absorption promotes a reaction with \(\Delta G < 0\) so there is no net storage of chemical energy, but the radiant energy speeds up a slow reaction.

Related Term
- radiant energy: https://goldbook.iupac.org//terms/view/R05039

Source
- PAC, 1991, 63, 569. 'Terminology in semiconductor electrochemistry and photoelectrochemical energy conversion (Recommendations 1991)' on page 593,595 (https://doi.org/10.1351/pac199163040569)

Other Outputs
- html: https://goldbook.iupac.org/terms/view/P04608/html
- json: https://goldbook.iupac.org/terms/view/P04608/json
- xml: https://goldbook.iupac.org/terms/view/P04608/xml

Citation: Citation: 'photoelectrolytic cell' in IUPAC Compendium of Chemical Terminology, 5th ed. International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry; 2025. Online version 5.0.0, 2025. 10.1351/goldbook.P04608
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Accessed: 2026-05-18T03:41:26+00:00