Combining Bulk/Surface Engineering of Hematite To Synergistically Improve Its Photoelectrochemical Water Splitting Performance

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• 作者：Yufei Yuan ; Jiuwang Gu ; Kai-Hang Ye ; Zhisheng Chai ; Xiang Yu ; Xiaobo Chen ; Chuanxi Zhao ; Yuanming Zhang ; Wenjie Mai
• 刊名：ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces
• 出版年：2016
• 出版时间：June 29, 2016
• 年：2016
• 卷：8
• 期：25
• 页码：16071-16077
• 全文大小：501K
• 年卷期：0
• ISSN：1944-8252

文摘

One of the most promising candidates for photoelectrochemical (PEC) water splitting photoanode is hematite (α-Fe₂O₃) due to its narrow bandgap and chemical stability. However, the poor bulk/surface kinetics of hematite limits its PEC performance. Herein, a facile two-step approach is reported to synergistically improve the PEC performance of Fe₂O₃. First, through bulk engineering of Ti doping, the photocurrent density of Ti–Fe₂O₃ photoanode (1.68 mA cm^–2 at 1.23 V_RHE) shows a 3-fold increase compared with that of pure Fe₂O₃ photoanode (0.50 mA cm^–2 at 1.23 V_RHE). Second, the photocurrent density of Ti–Fe₂O₃ photoanode could be further enhanced to 2.31 mA cm^–2 by surface engineering of FeOOH. The enhanced PEC water splitting performance is proposed to be the synergistic effect of bulk and surface engineering, which can be mainly attributed to the great increase of charge separation efficiency and surface transfer efficiency.