Rational construction of free-standing P-doped Fe2O3 nanowire arrays as highly effective electrocatalyst for overall water splitting

Fe2O3/Ni Nanocomposite Electrocatalyst on Cellulose for Hydrogen Evolution Reaction and Oxygen Evolution Reaction

A key challenge in the development of sustainable water-splitting (WS) systems is the formulation of electrodes by efficient combinations of electrocatalyst and binder materials. Cellulose, a biopolymer, can be considered an excellent dispersing agent and binder that can replace high-cost synthetic polymers to construct low-cost electrodes. Herein, a novel electrocatalyst was fabricated by combining Fe2O3 and Ni on microcrystalline cellulose (MCC) without the use of any additional binder. Structural characterization techniques confirmed the formation of the Fe2O3-Ni nanocomposite. Microstructural studies confirmed the homogeneity of the ~50 nm-sized Fe2O3-Ni on MCC. The WS performance, which involves the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) and the oxygen evolution reaction (OER), was evaluated using a 1 M KOH electrolyte solution. The Fe2O3-Ni nanocomposite on MCC displayed an efficient performance toward lowering the overpotential in both the HER (163 mV @ 10 mA cm-2) and OER (360 mV @ 10 mA cm-2). These results demonstrate that MCC facilitated the cohesive binding of electrocatalyst materials and attachment to the substrate surface. In the future, modified cellulose-based structures (such as functionalized gels and those dissolved in various media) can be used as efficient binder materials and alternative options for preparing electrodes for WS applications.

Revealing long-lived electron–hole migration in core–shell α/γ-Fe2O3/FCP for efficient photoelectrochemical water oxidation

A γ/α-Fe2O3/FCP photoanode with rapid interfacial hole injection and long-lived charge separation states (∼50.64 ps) showed that the synergistic effect of a phase junction and FeCo Prussian blue (FCP) could optimize the kinetics in water oxidation.