1
|
Ye N, Sheng W, Zhang R, Yan B, Jiang Z, Fang T. Interfacial Electron Engineering of PdSn-NbN/C for Highly Efficient Cleavage of the C-C Bonds in Alkaline Ethanol Electrooxidation. SMALL (WEINHEIM AN DER BERGSTRASSE, GERMANY) 2024; 20:e2304990. [PMID: 37705122 DOI: 10.1002/smll.202304990] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/13/2023] [Revised: 08/30/2023] [Indexed: 09/15/2023]
Abstract
The splitting of the C-C bonds of ethanol remains a key issue to be addressed, despite tremendous efforts made over the past several decades. This study highlights the enhancement mechanism of inexpensive NbN-modified Pd1 Sn3 -NbN/C towards the C-C bonds cleavage for alkaline ethanol oxidation reaction (EOR). The optimal Pd1 Sn3 -NbN/C delivers a catalytic activity up to 43.5 times higher than that of commercial Pd/C and high carbonate selectivity (20.5%) toward alkaline EOR. Most impressively, the Pd1 Sn3 -NbN/C presents good durability even after 25 200 s of chronoamperometric testing. The enhanced catalytic performance is mainly due to the interfacial interaction between PdSn and NbN, demonstrated by multiple structural characterization results. In addition, in situ ATR-SEIRAS (Attenuated total reflection-surface enhanced infrared absorption spectroscopy) results suggest that NbN facilitates the C-C bonds cleavage towards the alkaline EOR, followed by the enhanced OH adsorption to promote the subsequent oxidation of C1 intermediates after doping Sn. DFT (density functional theory) calculations indicate that the activation barriers of the C-H bond cleavage in CH3 CH2 OH, CH3 CHOH, CH3 CHO, CH3 CO, CH2 CO, and the C-C bond cleavage in CH3 CO, CH2 CO, CHCO are evidently reduced and the removal of adsorbed CH3 CO and CO becomes easier on the PdSn-NbN/C catalyst surface.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Na Ye
- Department of Chemical Engineering, Shaanxi Key Laboratory of Energy Chemical Process Intensification, Engineering Research Center of New Energy System Engineering and Equipment, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, 710049, China
| | - Wenchao Sheng
- College of Environmental Science and Engineering, Tongji University, 1239 Siping Road, Shanghai, 200092, China
| | - Riguang Zhang
- State Key Laboratory of Clean and Efficient Coal Utilization, Taiyuan University of Technology, Taiyuan, 030000, China
| | - Binhang Yan
- Department of Chemical Engineering, Tsinghua University, Beijing, 100084, China
| | - Zhao Jiang
- Department of Chemical Engineering, Shaanxi Key Laboratory of Energy Chemical Process Intensification, Engineering Research Center of New Energy System Engineering and Equipment, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, 710049, China
| | - Tao Fang
- Department of Chemical Engineering, Shaanxi Key Laboratory of Energy Chemical Process Intensification, Engineering Research Center of New Energy System Engineering and Equipment, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, 710049, China
| |
Collapse
|
2
|
Chen R, Meng L, Xu W, Li L. Cocatalysts-Photoanode Interface in Photoelectrochemical Water Splitting: Understanding and Insights. SMALL (WEINHEIM AN DER BERGSTRASSE, GERMANY) 2024; 20:e2304807. [PMID: 37653598 DOI: 10.1002/smll.202304807] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/07/2023] [Revised: 07/31/2023] [Indexed: 09/02/2023]
Abstract
Sluggish oxygen evolution reactions on photoanode surfaces severely limit the application of photoelectrochemical (PEC) water splitting. The loading of cocatalysts on photoanodes has been recognized as the simplest and most efficient optimization scheme, which can reduce the surface barrier, provide more active sites, and accelerate the surface catalytic reaction kinetics. Nevertheless, the introduction of cocatalysts inevitably generates interfaces between photoanodes and oxygen evolution cocatalysts (Ph/OEC), which causes severe interfacial recombination and hinders the carrier transfer. Recently, many researchers have focused on cocatalyst engineering, while few have investigated the effect of the Ph/OEC interface. Hence, to maximize the advantages of cocatalysts, interfacial problems for designing efficient cocatalysts are systematically introduced. In this review, the interrelationship between the Ph/OEC and PEC performance is classified and some methods for characterizing Ph/OEC interfaces are investigated. Additionally, common interfacial optimization strategies are summarized. This review details cocatalyst-design-based interfacial problems, provides ideas for designing efficient cocatalysts, and offers references for solving interfacial problems.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Runyu Chen
- School of Physical Science and Technology, Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Thin Films, Center for Energy Conversion Materials & Physics (CECMP), Soochow University, Suzhou, 215006, P. R. China
| | - Linxing Meng
- School of Physical Science and Technology, Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Thin Films, Center for Energy Conversion Materials & Physics (CECMP), Soochow University, Suzhou, 215006, P. R. China
| | - Weiwei Xu
- School of Physical Science and Technology, Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Thin Films, Center for Energy Conversion Materials & Physics (CECMP), Soochow University, Suzhou, 215006, P. R. China
| | - Liang Li
- School of Physical Science and Technology, Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Thin Films, Center for Energy Conversion Materials & Physics (CECMP), Soochow University, Suzhou, 215006, P. R. China
| |
Collapse
|
3
|
Plasma-modified iron-doped Ni3S2 nanosheet arrays as efficient electrocatalysts for hydrogen evolution reaction. ARAB J CHEM 2022. [DOI: 10.1016/j.arabjc.2022.104317] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/17/2022] Open
|
4
|
Wang R, Che G, Wang C, Liu C, Liu B, Ohtani B, Liu Y, Zhang X. Alcohol Plasma Processed Surface Amorphization for Photocatalysis. ACS Catal 2022. [DOI: 10.1021/acscatal.2c03427] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Rui Wang
- Key Laboratory of UV-Emitting Materials and Technology of Chinese Ministry of Education, Northeast Normal University, 5268 Renmin Street, Changchun 130024, People’s Republic of China
| | - Guangshun Che
- Key Laboratory of UV-Emitting Materials and Technology of Chinese Ministry of Education, Northeast Normal University, 5268 Renmin Street, Changchun 130024, People’s Republic of China
| | - Changhua Wang
- Key Laboratory of UV-Emitting Materials and Technology of Chinese Ministry of Education, Northeast Normal University, 5268 Renmin Street, Changchun 130024, People’s Republic of China
| | - Chunyao Liu
- Key Laboratory of UV-Emitting Materials and Technology of Chinese Ministry of Education, Northeast Normal University, 5268 Renmin Street, Changchun 130024, People’s Republic of China
| | - Baoshun Liu
- State Key Laboratory of Silicate Materials for Architectures, Wuhan University of Technology, No. 122, Luoshi Road, Wuhan 430070, People’s Republic of China
| | - Bunsho Ohtani
- Graduate School of Environmental Science, Hokkaido University, Sapporo 060-0810, Japan
| | - Yichun Liu
- Key Laboratory of UV-Emitting Materials and Technology of Chinese Ministry of Education, Northeast Normal University, 5268 Renmin Street, Changchun 130024, People’s Republic of China
| | - Xintong Zhang
- Key Laboratory of UV-Emitting Materials and Technology of Chinese Ministry of Education, Northeast Normal University, 5268 Renmin Street, Changchun 130024, People’s Republic of China
| |
Collapse
|
5
|
He X, Tian W, Bai Z, Yang L, Li L. Decoration of BiVO4/ZnO Photoanodes with Fe‐ZIF‐8 to Simultaneously Enhance Charge Separation and Hole Transportation for Efficient Solar Water Splitting. CHEMPHOTOCHEM 2022. [DOI: 10.1002/cptc.202200113] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Xianhong He
- Henan Normal University School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering Construction road 46th Xinxiang CHINA
| | - Wei Tian
- Soochow University No. 1, Shizi Street, Soochow CHINA
| | - Zhengyu Bai
- Henan Normal University School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering Construction road 46th Xinxiang CHINA
| | - Lin Yang
- Henan Normal University School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering Construction road 46th Xinxiang CHINA
| | - Liang Li
- Soochow University School of Physical Science and Technology No.1 Shizi Street Suzhou CHINA
| |
Collapse
|
6
|
Yu H, Shen X, Tan W, Zhang M, Lv J, Yang L, Zhong J, He G, Sun Z. Low temperature strategy for the synthesis of Ta3N5 and electrochemical deposition of Ag3PO4 to modify TiO2 as an advanced photoelectrocatalyst for oxygen evolution reactions. Electrochim Acta 2022. [DOI: 10.1016/j.electacta.2022.140862] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/03/2022]
|
7
|
Ye N, Bai Y, Jiang Z, Fang T. Design the PdCu/TaN C electrocatalyst with core-shell structure having high efficiency for methanol and formic acid oxidation reactions. Electrochim Acta 2021. [DOI: 10.1016/j.electacta.2021.138365] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
|
8
|
Yang J, Zhu X, Yu Q, Zhou G, Li Q, Wang C, Hua Y, She Y, Xu H, Li H. Plasma-induced defect engineering: Boosted the reverse water gas shift reaction performance with electron trap. J Colloid Interface Sci 2020; 580:814-821. [DOI: 10.1016/j.jcis.2020.07.032] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/30/2020] [Revised: 07/02/2020] [Accepted: 07/07/2020] [Indexed: 02/04/2023]
|
9
|
Cai Q, Hong W, Jian C, Liu W. A high-performance silicon photoanode enabled by oxygen vacancy modulation on NiOOH electrocatalyst for water oxidation. NANOSCALE 2020; 12:7550-7556. [PMID: 32227016 DOI: 10.1039/d0nr00921k] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/10/2023]
Abstract
Silicon (Si) is an attractive photoanode material for photoelectrochemical (PEC) water splitting. However, Si photoanode towards the oxygen evolution reaction (OER) is highly challenged due to its poor stability and catalytic inactivity. The integration of highly active electrocatalysts with Si photoanodes has been considered to be an effective strategy to improve their OER performance by accelerating the reaction kinetics and inhibiting Si photocorrosion. In this work, ultra-small NiFe nanoparticles are deposited onto the n-Si/Ni/NiOOH surface to improve the activity and stability of Si photoanodes by engineering the electrocatalyst and Si interface. Ultra-small NiFe nanoparticles can introduce oxygen vacancies via modulating the local electronic structure of Ni hosts in NiOOH electrocatalysts for fast charge separation and transfer. Besides, NiFe nanoparticles can also serve as a co-catalyst exposing more active sites and as a protection layer preventing Si photocorrosion. The as-prepared n-Si/Ni/NiOOH/NiFe photoanode exhibits excellent OER activity with an onset potential of 1.0 V versus reversible hydrogen electrode (RHE) and a photocurrent density of ∼25.2 mA cm-2 at 1.23 V versus RHE. This work provides a promising approach to design high-performance Si photoanodes by surface electrocatalyst engineering.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Qian Cai
- CAS Key Laboratory of Design and Assembly of Functional Nanostructures, and Fujian Provincial Key Laboratory of Nanomaterials, Fujian Institute of Research on the Structure of Matter, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Fuzhou, Fujian 350002, PR China.
| | | | | | | |
Collapse
|
10
|
Gao R, He D, Wu L, Hu K, Liu X, Su Y, Wang L. Towards Long‐Term Photostability of Nickel Hydroxide/BiVO
4
Photoanodes for Oxygen Evolution Catalysts via In Situ Catalyst Tuning. Angew Chem Int Ed Engl 2020. [DOI: 10.1002/ange.201915671] [Citation(s) in RCA: 30] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/05/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Rui‐Ting Gao
- School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering & Inner Mongolia Engineering and Technology Research Center for Catalytic Conversion and Utilization of Carbon Resource MoleculesInner Mongolia University 235 West University Street Hohhot 010021 China
| | - Dan He
- School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering & Inner Mongolia Engineering and Technology Research Center for Catalytic Conversion and Utilization of Carbon Resource MoleculesInner Mongolia University 235 West University Street Hohhot 010021 China
| | - Lijun Wu
- School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering & Inner Mongolia Engineering and Technology Research Center for Catalytic Conversion and Utilization of Carbon Resource MoleculesInner Mongolia University 235 West University Street Hohhot 010021 China
| | - Kan Hu
- School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering & Inner Mongolia Engineering and Technology Research Center for Catalytic Conversion and Utilization of Carbon Resource MoleculesInner Mongolia University 235 West University Street Hohhot 010021 China
| | - Xianhu Liu
- Key Laboratory of Materials Processing and MoldMinistry of Education, Zhengzhou University Zhengzhou 450002 China
| | - Yiguo Su
- School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering & Inner Mongolia Engineering and Technology Research Center for Catalytic Conversion and Utilization of Carbon Resource MoleculesInner Mongolia University 235 West University Street Hohhot 010021 China
| | - Lei Wang
- School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering & Inner Mongolia Engineering and Technology Research Center for Catalytic Conversion and Utilization of Carbon Resource MoleculesInner Mongolia University 235 West University Street Hohhot 010021 China
- Key Laboratory of Materials Processing and MoldMinistry of Education, Zhengzhou University Zhengzhou 450002 China
| |
Collapse
|
11
|
Gao RT, He D, Wu L, Hu K, Liu X, Su Y, Wang L. Towards Long-Term Photostability of Nickel Hydroxide/BiVO 4 Photoanodes for Oxygen Evolution Catalysts via In Situ Catalyst Tuning. Angew Chem Int Ed Engl 2020; 59:6213-6218. [PMID: 31960559 DOI: 10.1002/anie.201915671] [Citation(s) in RCA: 60] [Impact Index Per Article: 15.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/08/2019] [Indexed: 11/11/2022]
Abstract
Increasing long-term photostability of BiVO4 photoelectrode is an important issue for solar water splitting. The NiOOH oxygen evolution catalyst (OEC) has fast water oxidation kinetics compared to the FeOOH OEC. However, it generally shows a lower photoresponse and poor stability because of the more substantial interface recombination at the NiOOH/BiVO4 junction. Herein, we utilize a plasma etching approach to reduce both interface/surface recombination at NiOOH/BiVO4 and NiOOH/electrolyte junctions. Further, adding Fe2+ into the borate buffer electrolyte alleviates the active but unstable character of etched-NiOOH/BiVO4 , leading to an outstanding oxygen evolution over 200 h. The improved charge transfer and photostability can be attributed to the active defects and a mixture of NiOOH/NiO/Ni in OEC induced by plasma etching. Metallic Ni acts as the ion source for the in situ generation of the NiFe OEC over long-term durability.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Rui-Ting Gao
- School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering & Inner Mongolia Engineering and Technology Research Center for Catalytic Conversion and Utilization of Carbon Resource Molecules, Inner Mongolia University, 235 West University Street, Hohhot, 010021, China
| | - Dan He
- School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering & Inner Mongolia Engineering and Technology Research Center for Catalytic Conversion and Utilization of Carbon Resource Molecules, Inner Mongolia University, 235 West University Street, Hohhot, 010021, China
| | - Lijun Wu
- School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering & Inner Mongolia Engineering and Technology Research Center for Catalytic Conversion and Utilization of Carbon Resource Molecules, Inner Mongolia University, 235 West University Street, Hohhot, 010021, China
| | - Kan Hu
- School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering & Inner Mongolia Engineering and Technology Research Center for Catalytic Conversion and Utilization of Carbon Resource Molecules, Inner Mongolia University, 235 West University Street, Hohhot, 010021, China
| | - Xianhu Liu
- Key Laboratory of Materials Processing and Mold, Ministry of Education, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, 450002, China
| | - Yiguo Su
- School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering & Inner Mongolia Engineering and Technology Research Center for Catalytic Conversion and Utilization of Carbon Resource Molecules, Inner Mongolia University, 235 West University Street, Hohhot, 010021, China
| | - Lei Wang
- School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering & Inner Mongolia Engineering and Technology Research Center for Catalytic Conversion and Utilization of Carbon Resource Molecules, Inner Mongolia University, 235 West University Street, Hohhot, 010021, China.,Key Laboratory of Materials Processing and Mold, Ministry of Education, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, 450002, China
| |
Collapse
|
12
|
Lu C, Jothi PR, Thersleff T, Budnyak TM, Rokicinska A, Yubuta K, Dronskowski R, Kuśtrowski P, Fokwa BPT, Slabon A. Nanostructured core-shell metal borides-oxides as highly efficient electrocatalysts for photoelectrochemical water oxidation. NANOSCALE 2020; 12:3121-3128. [PMID: 31965133 DOI: 10.1039/c9nr09818f] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/10/2023]
Abstract
Oxygen evolution reaction (OER) catalysts are critical components of photoanodes for photoelectrochemical (PEC) water oxidation. Herein, nanostructured metal boride MB (M = Co, Fe) electrocatalysts, which have been synthesized by a Sn/SnCl2 redox assisted solid-state method, were integrated with WO3 thin films to build heterojunction photoanodes. As-obtained MB modified WO3 photoanodes exhibit enhanced charge carrier transport, amended separation of photogenerated electrons and holes, prolonged hole lifetime and increased charge carrier density. Surface modification of CoB and FeB significantly enhances the photocurrent density of WO3 photoanodes from 0.53 to 0.83 and 0.85 mA cm-2, respectively, in transient chronoamperometry (CA) at 1.23 V vs. RHE (VRHE) under interrupted illumination in 0.1 M Na2SO4 electrolyte (pH 7), corresponding to an increase of 1.6 relative to pristine WO3. In contrast, the pristine MB thin film electrodes do not produce noticeable photocurrent during water oxidation. The metal boride catalysts transform in situ to a core-shell structure with a metal boride core and a metal oxide (MO, M = Co, Fe) surface layer. When coupled to WO3 thin films, the CoB@CoOx nanostructures exhibit a higher catalytic enhancement than corresponding pure cobalt borate (Co-Bi) and cobalt hydroxide (Co(OH)x) electrocatalysts. Our results emphasize the role of the semiconductor-electrocatalyst interface for photoelectrodes and their high dependency on materials combination.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Can Lu
- Institute of Inorganic Chemistry, RWTH Aachen University, Landoltweg 1, D-52056 Aachen, Germany
| | - Palani R Jothi
- Department of Chemistry and Center for Catalysis, University of California, Riverside, 92507 California, USA.
| | - Thomas Thersleff
- Department of Materials and Environmental Chemistry, Stockholm University, Svante Arrhenius väg 16 C, 10691 Stockholm, Sweden.
| | - Tetyana M Budnyak
- Department of Materials and Environmental Chemistry, Stockholm University, Svante Arrhenius väg 16 C, 10691 Stockholm, Sweden.
| | - Anna Rokicinska
- Faculty of Chemistry, Jagiellonian University, Gronostajowa 2, 30-387 Krakow, Poland
| | - Kunio Yubuta
- Institute for Materials Research, Tohoku University, Katahira 2-1-1, Sendai 980-8577, Japan
| | - Richard Dronskowski
- Institute of Inorganic Chemistry, RWTH Aachen University, Landoltweg 1, D-52056 Aachen, Germany and Hoffmann Institute of Advanced Materials, Shenzhen Polytechnic, Liuxian Blvd 7098, 518055 Shenzhen, China
| | - Piotr Kuśtrowski
- Faculty of Chemistry, Jagiellonian University, Gronostajowa 2, 30-387 Krakow, Poland
| | - Boniface P T Fokwa
- Department of Chemistry and Center for Catalysis, University of California, Riverside, 92507 California, USA.
| | - Adam Slabon
- Department of Materials and Environmental Chemistry, Stockholm University, Svante Arrhenius väg 16 C, 10691 Stockholm, Sweden.
| |
Collapse
|
13
|
Co(OH)2/BiVO4 photoanode in tandem with a carbon-based perovskite solar cell for solar-driven overall water splitting. Electrochim Acta 2020. [DOI: 10.1016/j.electacta.2019.135183] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/19/2022]
|
14
|
Ung D, Murphy IA, Cossairt BM. Designing nanoparticle interfaces for inner-sphere catalysis. Dalton Trans 2020; 49:4995-5005. [DOI: 10.1039/d0dt00785d] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/27/2022]
Abstract
Interfacial chemistry dramatically impacts the activity (performance) and reactivity (mechanism) of nanoparticle catalysts.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- David Ung
- University of Washington
- Department of Chemistry
- Seattle
- USA
| | - Ian A. Murphy
- University of Washington
- Department of Chemistry
- Seattle
- USA
| | | |
Collapse
|
15
|
Wang L, Zhu J, Liu X. Oxygen-Vacancy-Dominated Cocatalyst/Hematite Interface for Boosting Solar Water Splitting. ACS APPLIED MATERIALS & INTERFACES 2019; 11:22272-22277. [PMID: 31244023 DOI: 10.1021/acsami.9b03789] [Citation(s) in RCA: 26] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/09/2023]
Abstract
Surface suppression is one of critical issues for semiconductors in photoelectrochemical (PEC) water splitting. Deposition of oxygen evolution cocatalysts on photoanodes can improve the oxygen evolution rate, but still it has some limits in some cases. In this work, we propose a new and simple precipitation approach to transform the surface of hematite into iron phosphate (Fe-Pi). Further, Ar-plasma treatment on Fe-Pi/Fe2O3 introduces oxygen vacancies on the phosphorous and photoanode. A surface phosphate treatment accelerates the transfer of holes from the bulk to the surface. Besides, creating oxygen vacancy defects on Fe-Pi/Fe2O3 can significantly increase the reactivity of active sites, leading to the remarkable enhancement in oxygen evolution reaction activity and PEC performance. The resulting photoanode has a current density of 2.71 mA cm-2 at 1.23 VRHE and 3.5 mA cm-2 at 1.50 VRHE under simulated solar light condition. The reduced surface recombination by Fe-Pi layer and Ar-plasma treatment is confirmed by electrochemical analysis. These findings give a great potential of the use of a combination strategy for cocatalyst deposition and optimizing the performance of hematite.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Lei Wang
- College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering and Inner Mongolia Key Lab of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology , Inner Mongolia University , Hohhot 010021 , China
- State Key Laboratory for Oxo Synthesis and Selective Oxidation, National Engineering Research Center for Fine Petrochemical Intermediates , Lanzhou Institute of Chemical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences , Lanzhou 730000 , China
- Key Laboratory of Materials Processing and Mold, Ministry of Education , Zhengzhou University , Zhengzhou 450002 , China
| | - Jie Zhu
- College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering and Inner Mongolia Key Lab of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology , Inner Mongolia University , Hohhot 010021 , China
| | - Xianhu Liu
- Key Laboratory of Materials Processing and Mold, Ministry of Education , Zhengzhou University , Zhengzhou 450002 , China
| |
Collapse
|