Issue 21, 2017
From the journal:

Physical Chemistry Chemical Physics

Ultrathin CoOx-modified hematite with low onset potential for solar water oxidation†

Chun Du,a   Jun Wang,a   Xiao Liu,b   Jie Yang,a   Kun Cao,b   Yanwei Wen,a   Rong Chen*bc  and  Bin Shan ORCID logo *ad  

* Corresponding authors

a State Key Laboratory of Materials Processing and Die & Mould Technology, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430074, Hubei, People's Republic of China
E-mail: bshan@mail.hust.edu.cn

b State Key Laboratory of Digital Manufacturing Equipment and Technology, School of Mechanical Science and Engineering, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430074, Hubei, People's Republic of China
E-mail: rongchen@mail.hust.edu.cn

c School of Optical and Electronic Information, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430074, People's Republic of China

d Department of Materials Science and Engineering, The University of Texas at Dallas, Richardson, Texas 75080, USA

Abstract

Photoelectrochemical water splitting holds great potential for solar energy conversion and storage with zero greenhouse gas emission. Integration of a suitable co-catalyst with an absorber material enables the realization of highly efficient photocleavage of water. Herein, nanostructured hematite film was coated with an ultrathin and conformal CoOx overlayer through atomic layer deposition (ALD). The best performing hybrid hematite with a 2–3 nm ALD CoOx overlayer yielded a remarkable turn on potential of 0.6 VRHE for the water oxidation reaction. Moreover, material analyses revealed that the surface amorphous CoOx/Co(OH)2 component exhibited good optical transparency and hydrophilic properties, which were beneficial for the formation of an ideal hematite/electrolyte interface. In addition to the presence of the CoOx overlayer, a negative shift of flat band potential (VFB) as well as suppression of surface recombination helped to significantly promote the charge separation and collection properties, contributing to the overall solar conversion efficiency. As a result, the external quantum efficiency (IPCE) obtained on hematite increases by 66% at 1.23 VRHE.

Graphical abstract: Ultrathin CoOx-modified hematite with low onset potential for solar water oxidation

About
Cited by
Related
Download options Please wait...

Supplementary files

Article information

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1039/C7CP01588G
Article type
Paper
Submitted
13 Mar 2017
Accepted
06 May 2017
First published
22 May 2017

Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys., 2017,19, 14178-14184

Permissions

Request permissions

Ultrathin CoOx-modified hematite with low onset potential for solar water oxidation

C. Du, J. Wang, X. Liu, J. Yang, K. Cao, Y. Wen, R. Chen and B. Shan, Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys., 2017, 19, 14178 DOI: 10.1039/C7CP01588G

To request permission to reproduce material from this article, please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

If you are an author contributing to an RSC publication, you do not need to request permission provided correct acknowledgement is given.

If you are the author of this article, you do not need to request permission to reproduce figures and diagrams provided correct acknowledgement is given. If you want to reproduce the whole article in a third-party publication (excluding your thesis/dissertation for which permission is not required) please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

Read more about how to correctly acknowledge RSC content.

Social activity

Spotlight

Advertisements