PRED treatment mediated stable and efficient water oxidation performance of the Fe2O3 nano-coral structure

Crystal Facet Engineering of Photoelectrodes for Photoelectrochemical Water Splitting

Photoelectrochemical (PEC) water splitting is a promising approach for solar-driven hydrogen production with zero emissions, and it has been intensively studied over the past decades. However, the solar-to-hydrogen (STH) efficiencies of the current PEC systems are still far from the 10% target needed for practical application. The development of efficient photoelectrodes in PEC systems holds the key to achieving high STH efficiencies. In recent years, crystal facet engineering has emerged as an important strategy in designing efficient photoelectrodes for PEC water splitting, which has yet to be comprehensively reviewed and is the main focus of this article. After the Introduction, the second section of this review concisely introduces the mechanisms of crystal facet engineering. The subsequent section provides a snapshot of the unique facet-dependent properties of some semiconductor crystals including surface electronic structures, redox reaction sites, surface built-in electric fields, molecular adsorption, photoreaction activity, photocorrosion resistance, and electrical conductivity. Then, the methods for fabricating photoelectrodes with faceted semiconductor crystals are reviewed, with a focus on the preparation processes. In addition, the notable advantages of the crystal facet engineering of photoelectrodes in terms of light harvesting, charge separation and transfer, and surface reactions are critically discussed. This is followed by a systematic overview of the modification strategies of faceted photoelectrodes to further enhance the PEC performance. The last section summarizes the major challenges and some invigorating perspectives for future research on crystal facet engineered photoelectrodes, which are believed to play a vital role in promoting the development of this important research field.

Fe2O3 Blocking Layer Produced by Cyclic Voltammetry Leads to Improved Photoelectrochemical Performance of Hematite Nanorods

Hematite is a low band gap, earth abundant semiconductor and it is considered to be a promising choice for photoelectrochemical water splitting. However, as a bulk material its efficiency is low because of excessive bulk, surface, and interface recombination. In the present work, we propose a strategy to prepare a hematite (α-Fe2O3) photoanode consisting of hematite nanorods grown onto an iron oxide blocking layer. This blocking layer is formed from a sputter deposited thin metallic iron film on fluorine doped tin oxide (FTO) by using cyclic voltammetry to fully convert the film into an anodic oxide. In a second step, hematite nanorods (NR) are grown onto the layer using a hydrothermal approach. In this geometry, the hematite sub-layer works as a barrier for electron back diffusion (a blocking layer). This suppresses recombination, and the maximum of the incident photon to current efficiency is increased from 12% to 17%. Under AM 1.5 conditions, the photocurrent density reaches approximately 1.2 mA/cm2 at 1.5 V vs. RHE and the onset potential changes to 0.8 V vs. RHE (using a Zn-Co co-catalyst).

Visible light driven water splitting through an innovative Cu-treated-δ-MnO2 nanostructure: probing enhanced activity and mechanistic insights

In this study, we have fabricated nanostructured thin films of δ-MnO2 on FTO glass substrates by a facile, room-temperature and low cost chemical bath deposition method. A copper treatment procedure in the synthesis steps results in a film of Cu-δ-MnO2, which displays significant photoactivity when used as a photocathode for hydrogen evolution reaction, with a photocurrent of 3.59 mA cm-2 (at 0 V vs. RHE) in a mild acidic solution. Furthermore, the electrodes also display significant electrocatalytic activity towards water oxidation reaching up to 10 mA cm-2 (at only 1.67 V vs. RHE). The Cu-δ-MnO2 film has been thoroughly characterized via various physicochemical, optical and electrochemical techniques, and an attempt has been made to explain the conductivity mechanism. It is suggested that Cu treatment enhances the photoactivity of δ-MnO2 films through a series of surface dominated processes, which facilitate reduced recombination and enhanced hole consumption at the interface of the electrode and electrolyte. These results establish birnessite-based manganese dioxides as suitable candidates for electrodes in water splitting cells and pave the way for atomic-level engineering of earth abundant materials to reach the ultimate goal of low-cost, sustainable generation of hydrogen.

Quasi-Topotactic Transformation of FeOOH Nanorods to Robust Fe2O3 Porous Nanopillars Triggered with a Facile Rapid Dehydration Strategy for Efficient Photoelectrochemical Water Splitting

A facile rapid dehydration (RD) strategy is explored for quasi-topotactic transformation of FeOOH nanorods to robust Fe₂O₃ porous nanopillars, avoiding collapse, shrink, and coalescence, and compared with a conventional treatment route. Additionally, the so-called RD process is capable of generating a beneficial porous structure for photoelectrochemical water oxidation. The obtained RD-Fe₂O₃ photoanode exhibits a photocurrent density as high as 2.0 mA cm^-2 at 1.23 V versus reversible hydrogen electrode (RHE) and a saturated photocurrent density of 3.5 mA cm^-2 at 1.71 V versus RHE without any cocatalysts, which is about 270% improved photocurrent density over Fe₂O₃ with the conventional temperature-rising route (0.75 mA cm^-2 at 1.23 V vs RHE and 1.48 mA cm^-2 at 1.71 V vs RHE, respectively). The enhanced photocurrent on RD-Fe₂O₃ is attributed to a synergistic effect of the following factors: (i) preservation of single crystalline nanopillars decreases the charge-carrier recombination; (ii) formation of long nanopillars enhances light harvesting; and (iii) the porous structure shortens the hole transport distance from the bulk material to the electrode-electrolyte interface.

One-step preparation of nanostructured martite catalyst and graphite electrode by glow discharge plasma for heterogeneous electro-Fenton like process

Natural Martite ore particles and graphite were modified by alternating current (AC) glow discharge plasma to form nanostructured catalyst and cathode electrode for using in the heterogeneous-electro Fenton-like (Het-EF-like) process. The performance of the plasma-treated martite (PTM) and graphite electrode (PTGE) was studied for the treatment of paraquat herbicide in a batch system. 85.78% degradation efficiency for 20 mg L^-1 paraquat was achieved in the modified process under desired operational conditions (i.e. current intensity of 300 mA, catalyst amount of 1 g L^-1, pH = 6, and background electrolyte (Na₂SO₄) concentration of 0.05 mol L^-1) which was higher than the 41.03% for the unmodified one after 150 min of treatment. The ecofriendly modification of the martite particles and the graphite electrode, no chemical needed, low leached iron and milder operational pH were the main privileges of plasma utilization. Moreover, the degradation efficiency through the process was not declined after five repeated cycles at the optimized conditions, which proved the stability of the nanostructured PTM and PTGE in the long-term usage. The archived results exhibit this method is the first example of high efficient, cost-effective, and environment-friendly method for generation of nanostructured samples.

Enhanced photoelectrochemical performance of internally porous Au-embedded α-Fe2O3 photoanodes for water oxidation

We report CTAB-mediated synthesis of internally porous Au-embedded hematite photoanode with enhanced photoelectrochemical water oxidation performance.

A Synergistic Effect of Surfactant and ZrO2 Underlayer on Photocurrent Enhancement and Cathodic Shift of Nanoporous Fe2O3 Photoanode

Augmenting the donor density and nanostructure engineering are the crucial points to improve solar water oxidation performance of hematite (α-Fe2O3). This work addresses the sluggish water oxidation reaction associated with hematite photoanode by tweaking its internal porosity. The porous hematite photoanodes are fabricated by a novel synthetic strategy via pulse reverse electrodeposition (PRED) method that involves incorporation of a cationic CTAB surfactant in a sulfate electrolyte and spin-coated ZrO2 underlayer (UL) on FTO. CTAB is found to be beneficial in promoting the film growth rate during PRED. Incorporation of Zr(4+) ions from ZrO2 UL and Sn(4+) ions from FTO into the Fe2O3 lattice via solid-state diffusion reaction during pertinent annihilation of surfactant molecules at 800 °C produced internally porous hematite films with improved carrier concentration. The porous hematite demonstrated a sustained photocurrent enhancement and a significant cathodic shift of 130 mV relative to the planar hematite under standard illumination conditions (AM 1.5G) in 1 M NaOH electrolyte. The absorption, electrochemical impedance spectroscopy and Mott-Schottky analyses revealed that the ZrO2 UL and CTAB not only increased the carrier density and light harvesting but also accelerated the surface oxidation reaction kinetics, synergistically boosting the performance of internally porous hematite photoanodes.

A Facile Surface Passivation of Hematite Photoanodes with Iron Titanate Cocatalyst for Enhanced Water Splitting

The surface modification of semiconductor photoelectrodes with passivation overlayers has attracted great attention as an effective strategy to improve the charge separation and charge transfer processes across the semiconductor-electrolyte interface. In this work, a thin Fe2 TiO5 layer was decorated on nanostructured hematite nanoflake and nanocoral photoanodes (by thermal oxidation of iron foils) by a facile water-based solution method. Photoelectrochemical measurements show that the Fe2 O3 /Fe2 TiO5 heterostructure exhibits an obvious enhancement in photoelectrochemical water oxidation performance compared to the pristine hematite. For example, at 1.23 V versus the reversible hydrogen electrode (VRHE ) in 1 m KOH under AM 1.5 G (100 mW cm(-2) ) illumination, a 4-8× increase in the water oxidation photocurrent is achieved for Fe2 O3 /Fe2 TiO5 , and a considerable cathodic shift of the onset potential up to 0.53-0.62 VRHE is obtained. Moreover, the performance of the Fe2 O3 /Fe2 TiO5 heterostructure can be further improved by decoration with a SnOx layer. The enhancement in photocurrent can be attributed to the synergistic effect of Fe2 TiO5 /SnOx overlayers passivating surface states, and thus reducing surface electron-hole recombination.

Nanostructured hybrid NiFeOOH/CNT electrocatalysts for oxygen evolution reaction with low overpotential

The OER activity of nanostructured Ni-based LDH can be improved by doping with transition metals, which can be further enhanced by hybridizing with CNT.