Rare-earth doped nano-glass-ceramics for extending spectral response of water-splitting semiconductor electrodes by high intense UV-blue up-conversion: Turning the sun into blue

The use of hydrogen to feed Fuel Cells emerges as an attractive renewable solution to meet the terawatt carbon-neutral energy demand challenge. Rare-earth doped nano-glass-ceramics, presenting outstanding high intense UV-blue up-conversion processes, appear as an interesting approach to assist long wavelength light harvesting of solar irradiation, extending the photo-catalytic response to the red and near-infrared region to overcome the drawback of large band-gap materials used in the splitting of water into oxygen and hydrogen in a photo-electrochemical cell.