Tuning nanosheet Fe 2 O 3 photoanodes with C 3 N 4 and p-type CoO x decoration for efficient and stable water splitting

Fe 2 O 3 photoanodes are ideal candidates for photoelectrochemical (PEC) water splitting. However, the charge recombination in the bulk and at the photoanode/electrolyte interface decreases their PEC performance. Here, C 3 N 4 and p-type CoO x are firstly decorated on Fe 2 O 3 nanosheets for PEC per...

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Veröffentlicht in:Catalysis science & technology 2018, Vol.8 (12), p.3144-3150
Hauptverfasser: Mei, Zongwei, Li, Yehuan, Yang, Xiaoyang, Ren, Wenju, Tong, Shengfu, Zhang, Ning, Zhao, Wenguang, Lin, Yuan, Pan, Feng
Format: Artikel
Sprache:eng
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Zusammenfassung:Fe 2 O 3 photoanodes are ideal candidates for photoelectrochemical (PEC) water splitting. However, the charge recombination in the bulk and at the photoanode/electrolyte interface decreases their PEC performance. Here, C 3 N 4 and p-type CoO x are firstly decorated on Fe 2 O 3 nanosheets for PEC performance enhancement and mechanism study. The photocurrent densities of Fe 2 O 3 /C 3 N 4 and Fe 2 O 3 /C 3 N 4 /CoO x photoanodes are about 1.6 and 2 times at 1.23 V vs. RHE (reversible hydrogen electrode) compared with that of the Fe 2 O 3 film (0.74 mA cm −2 ) under simulated sun light irradiation. Correspondingly, their photocurrent onset potentials are negatively shifted by about 0.09 and 0.19 V compared with that of Fe 2 O 3 (0.81 V RHE ). The solar-to-hydrogen conversion efficiency reaches 0.17% and the incident photo-to-current conversion efficiency (IPCE) achieves 81.7% at 385 nm for the Fe 2 O 3 /C 3 N 4 /CoO x hybrid photoanode. The matched band alignments between Fe 2 O 3 and C 3 N 4 result in more efficient charge separation, and the p-type CoO x cocatalyst reduces surface recombination and shows quicker water oxidation reaction kinetics at the semiconductor/electrolyte interface.
ISSN:2044-4753
2044-4761
DOI:10.1039/C8CY00729B