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Wang X, Ma S, Liu B, Wang S, Huang W. Imperfect makes perfect: defect engineering of photoelectrodes towards efficient photoelectrochemical water splitting. Chem Commun (Camb) 2023; 59:10044-10066. [PMID: 37551587 DOI: 10.1039/d3cc02843g] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 08/09/2023]
Abstract
Photoelectrochemical (PEC) water splitting for hydrogen evolution has been considered as a promising technology to solve the energy and environmental issues. However, the solar-to-hydrogen (STH) conversion efficiencies of current PEC systems are far from meeting the commercial demand (10%) due to the lack of efficient photoelectrode materials. The recent rapid development of defect engineering of photoelectrodes has significantly improved the PEC performance, which is expected to break through the bottleneck of low STH efficiency. In this review, the category and the construction methods of different defects in photoelectrode materials are summarized. Based on the in-depth summary and analysis of existing reports, the PEC performance enhancement mechanism of defect engineering is critically discussed in terms of light absorption, carrier separation and transport, and surface redox reactions. Finally, the application prospects and challenges of defect engineering for PEC water splitting are presented, and the future research directions in this field are also proposed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xin Wang
- Frontiers Science Center for Flexible Electronics, Xi'an Institute of Flexible Electronics (IFE), Northwestern Polytechnical University, 127 West Youyi Road, Xi'an 710072, China.
| | - Siqing Ma
- Frontiers Science Center for Flexible Electronics, Xi'an Institute of Flexible Electronics (IFE), Northwestern Polytechnical University, 127 West Youyi Road, Xi'an 710072, China.
| | - Boyan Liu
- Frontiers Science Center for Flexible Electronics, Xi'an Institute of Flexible Electronics (IFE), Northwestern Polytechnical University, 127 West Youyi Road, Xi'an 710072, China.
| | - Songcan Wang
- Frontiers Science Center for Flexible Electronics, Xi'an Institute of Flexible Electronics (IFE), Northwestern Polytechnical University, 127 West Youyi Road, Xi'an 710072, China.
| | - Wei Huang
- Frontiers Science Center for Flexible Electronics, Xi'an Institute of Flexible Electronics (IFE), Northwestern Polytechnical University, 127 West Youyi Road, Xi'an 710072, China.
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Chen R, Ren Z, Liang Y, Zhang G, Dittrich T, Liu R, Liu Y, Zhao Y, Pang S, An H, Ni C, Zhou P, Han K, Fan F, Li C. Spatiotemporal imaging of charge transfer in photocatalyst particles. Nature 2022; 610:296-301. [PMID: 36224420 DOI: 10.1038/s41586-022-05183-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 72] [Impact Index Per Article: 36.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/05/2022] [Accepted: 08/02/2022] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
Abstract
The water-splitting reaction using photocatalyst particles is a promising route for solar fuel production1-4. Photo-induced charge transfer from a photocatalyst to catalytic surface sites is key in ensuring photocatalytic efficiency5; however, it is challenging to understand this process, which spans a wide spatiotemporal range from nanometres to micrometres and from femtoseconds to seconds6-8. Although the steady-state charge distribution on single photocatalyst particles has been mapped by microscopic techniques9-11, and the charge transfer dynamics in photocatalyst aggregations have been revealed by time-resolved spectroscopy12,13, spatiotemporally evolving charge transfer processes in single photocatalyst particles cannot be tracked, and their exact mechanism is unknown. Here we perform spatiotemporally resolved surface photovoltage measurements on cuprous oxide photocatalyst particles to map holistic charge transfer processes on the femtosecond to second timescale at the single-particle level. We find that photogenerated electrons are transferred to the catalytic surface quasi-ballistically through inter-facet hot electron transfer on a subpicosecond timescale, whereas photogenerated holes are transferred to a spatially separated surface and stabilized through selective trapping on a microsecond timescale. We demonstrate that these ultrafast-hot-electron-transfer and anisotropic-trapping regimes, which challenge the classical perception of a drift-diffusion model, contribute to the efficient charge separation in photocatalysis and improve photocatalytic performance. We anticipate that our findings will be used to illustrate the universality of other photoelectronic devices and facilitate the rational design of photocatalysts.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ruotian Chen
- State Key Laboratory of Catalysis, Dalian National Laboratory for Clean Energy, iChEM, Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Dalian, China
| | - Zefeng Ren
- State Key Laboratory of Molecular Reaction Dynamics, Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Dalian, China
| | - Yu Liang
- State Key Laboratory of Molecular Reaction Dynamics, Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Dalian, China.,University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
| | - Guanhua Zhang
- State Key Laboratory of Molecular Reaction Dynamics, Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Dalian, China
| | - Thomas Dittrich
- Helmholtz-Center Berlin for Materials and Energy GmbH, Berlin, Germany
| | - Runze Liu
- Institute of Molecular Sciences and Engineering, Institute of Frontier and Interdisciplinary Science, Shandong University, Qingdao, China
| | - Yang Liu
- Institute of Molecular Sciences and Engineering, Institute of Frontier and Interdisciplinary Science, Shandong University, Qingdao, China
| | - Yue Zhao
- State Key Laboratory of Catalysis, Dalian National Laboratory for Clean Energy, iChEM, Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Dalian, China
| | - Shan Pang
- State Key Laboratory of Catalysis, Dalian National Laboratory for Clean Energy, iChEM, Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Dalian, China
| | - Hongyu An
- State Key Laboratory of Catalysis, Dalian National Laboratory for Clean Energy, iChEM, Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Dalian, China
| | - Chenwei Ni
- State Key Laboratory of Catalysis, Dalian National Laboratory for Clean Energy, iChEM, Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Dalian, China.,University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
| | - Panwang Zhou
- Institute of Molecular Sciences and Engineering, Institute of Frontier and Interdisciplinary Science, Shandong University, Qingdao, China
| | - Keli Han
- State Key Laboratory of Molecular Reaction Dynamics, Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Dalian, China.,Institute of Molecular Sciences and Engineering, Institute of Frontier and Interdisciplinary Science, Shandong University, Qingdao, China
| | - Fengtao Fan
- State Key Laboratory of Catalysis, Dalian National Laboratory for Clean Energy, iChEM, Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Dalian, China.
| | - Can Li
- State Key Laboratory of Catalysis, Dalian National Laboratory for Clean Energy, iChEM, Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Dalian, China. .,University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.
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Experimental and Theoretical Studies of Green Synthesized Cu 2O Nanoparticles Using Datura Metel L. J Fluoresc 2022; 32:559-568. [PMID: 34997445 DOI: 10.1007/s10895-021-02880-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/17/2021] [Accepted: 12/27/2021] [Indexed: 01/04/2023]
Abstract
In biomedical applications, Cu2O nanoparticles are of great interest. The bioengineered route is eco-friendly for the synthesis of nanoparticles. Therefore, in the present study, there is an attempt to synthesis Cu2O nanoparticles using Datura metel L. The synthesized nanoparticles were characterized by UV-Vis, XRD, and FT-IR. UV-Vis results suggest the presence of hyoscyamine, atropine in Datura metel L, and also, nanoparticles formation has been confirmed by the presence of absorption peak at 790 nm. The average crystallite size (19.56 nm) was obtained by XRD. FT-IR was also used to confirm the different functional groups. Fourier Power Spectrum was also employed to examine the synthesized nanomaterials spectrum data to emphasize the peak of the prominent frequencies. Density functional theory (DFT) was also utilized to assess the energy of the substance over time, which appears to indicate a stable molecule. Furthermore, calculated energies, thermodynamic properties (such as enthalpies, entropies, and Gibbs-free energies), modeled structures of complexes, crystals, and clusters, and predicted yields, rates, and regio- and stereospecificity of reactions were all in good agreement with experimental results. Overall, the results show that the successful production of Cu2O nanoparticles with Datura metel L. corresponds to theoretical research.
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Zhang C, Chen G, Si Y, Liu M. Surface modeling of photocatalytic materials for water splitting. Phys Chem Chem Phys 2021; 24:1237-1261. [PMID: 34935801 DOI: 10.1039/d1cp04352h] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/18/2022]
Abstract
The photocatalyst surface is central to photocatalytic reactions. However, it has been a challenge to explicitly understand both the surface configuration and the structure-dependent photocatalytic properties at the atomic level. First-principles density functional theory (DFT) calculations provide a versatile method that makes up for the lack of experimental surface studies. In DFT calculations, the initial surface model greatly affects the accuracy of the calculation results. Consequently, establishing a more realistic and more reliable material surface models is undoubtedly the first step and the most important link in theoretical calculations. The aim of this Perspective is to provide a general understanding of the methods for the surface modeling of photocatalytic materials in recent years. We begin with a discussion of the basic theories applied in photocatalytic surface research, followed by an explanation of the importance of surface modeling in photocatalysis. We then elaborate on the advantages and disadvantages of the basic surface model and briefly describe the latest surface modeling methods. Finally, we evaluate the rationality of current surface modeling methods. We summarize this Perspective by prospecting the developing directions of photocatalytic surface research in the future. It is believed that a reasonable surface model should be verified by both experimental characterization and theoretical computation with negative feedback.
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Affiliation(s)
- Chunyang Zhang
- International Research Center for Renewable Energy, State Key Laboratory of Multiphase Flow, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, Shaanxi 710049, P. R. China.
| | - Guijun Chen
- International Research Center for Renewable Energy, State Key Laboratory of Multiphase Flow, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, Shaanxi 710049, P. R. China.
| | - Yitao Si
- International Research Center for Renewable Energy, State Key Laboratory of Multiphase Flow, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, Shaanxi 710049, P. R. China.
| | - Maochang Liu
- International Research Center for Renewable Energy, State Key Laboratory of Multiphase Flow, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, Shaanxi 710049, P. R. China. .,Suzhou Academy of Xi'an Jiaotong University, Suzhou, Jiangsu 215123, P. R. China
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Wang S, Wang X, Liu B, Guo Z, Ostrikov KK, Wang L, Huang W. Vacancy defect engineering of BiVO 4 photoanodes for photoelectrochemical water splitting. NANOSCALE 2021; 13:17989-18009. [PMID: 34726221 DOI: 10.1039/d1nr05691c] [Citation(s) in RCA: 26] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/13/2023]
Abstract
Photoelectrochemical (PEC) water splitting has been regarded as a promising technology for sustainable hydrogen production. The development of efficient photoelectrode materials is the key to improve the solar-to-hydrogen (STH) conversion efficiency towards practical application. Bismuth vanadate (BiVO4) is one of the most promising photoanode materials with the advantages of visible light absorption, good chemical stability, nontoxic feature, and low cost. However, the PEC performance of BiVO4 photoanodes is limited by the relatively short hole diffusion length and poor electron transport properties. The recent rapid development of vacancy defect engineering has significantly improved the PEC performance of BiVO4. In this review article, the fundamental properties of BiVO4 are presented, followed by an overview of the methods for creating different kinds of vacancy defects in BiVO4 photoanodes. Then, the roles of vacancy defects in tuning the electronic structure, promoting charge separation, and increasing surface photoreaction kinetics of BiVO4 photoanodes are critically discussed. Finally, the major challenges and some encouraging perspectives for future research on vacancy defect engineering of BiVO4 photoanodes are presented, providing guidelines for the design of efficient BiVO4 photoanodes for solar fuel production.
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Affiliation(s)
- Songcan Wang
- Frontiers Science Center for Flexible Electronics, Xi'an Institute of Flexible Electronics (IFE) and Xi'an Institute of Biomedical Materials & Engineering, Northwestern Polytechnical University, 127 West Youyi Road, Xi'an 710072, China.
| | - Xin Wang
- Frontiers Science Center for Flexible Electronics, Xi'an Institute of Flexible Electronics (IFE) and Xi'an Institute of Biomedical Materials & Engineering, Northwestern Polytechnical University, 127 West Youyi Road, Xi'an 710072, China.
| | - Boyan Liu
- Frontiers Science Center for Flexible Electronics, Xi'an Institute of Flexible Electronics (IFE) and Xi'an Institute of Biomedical Materials & Engineering, Northwestern Polytechnical University, 127 West Youyi Road, Xi'an 710072, China.
| | - Zhaochen Guo
- Frontiers Science Center for Flexible Electronics, Xi'an Institute of Flexible Electronics (IFE) and Xi'an Institute of Biomedical Materials & Engineering, Northwestern Polytechnical University, 127 West Youyi Road, Xi'an 710072, China.
| | - Kostya Ken Ostrikov
- School of Chemistry and Physics and Centre for Materials Science Queensland University of Technology Brisbane, QLD 4000, Australia
| | - Lianzhou Wang
- Nanomaterials Centre, Australian Institute for Bioengineering and Nanotechnology and School of Chemical Engineering, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland 4072, Australia.
| | - Wei Huang
- Frontiers Science Center for Flexible Electronics, Xi'an Institute of Flexible Electronics (IFE) and Xi'an Institute of Biomedical Materials & Engineering, Northwestern Polytechnical University, 127 West Youyi Road, Xi'an 710072, China.
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