Cobalt oxide and carbon modified hematite nanorod arrays for improved photoelectrochemical water splitting  

作　　者：Miao Wang Meng Wang Yanming Fu Shaohua Shen 

机构地区：[1]International Research Center for Renewable Energy,State Key Laboratory of Multiphase Flow in Power Engineering,Xi'an fiaotong University,Xi'on 710049,China

出　　处：《Chinese Chemical Letters》2017年第12期2207-2211,共5页中国化学快报（英文版）

基　　金：supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China(Nos.51672210,51323011,51236007);the Natural Science Foundation of Shaanxi Province(No.2014KW0702);the Foundation for the Author of National Excellent Doctoral Dissertation of China(No.201335);the National Program for Support of Top-notch Young Professionals;the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities

摘　　要：Given the proper band gap, low cost and good stability, hematite （α-Fe2O3） has been considered as a promising candidate for photoelectrochemical （PEC） water splitting, however suffers from the sluggish surface water oxidation reaction kinetics. In this study, a simple dip-coating process was used to modify the surface of α-Fe2O3 nanorod arrays with cobalt oxide （COOx） and carbon （C） for the improved PEC performance, with a photocurrent density at 1.6V （vs. reversible hydrogen electrode, RHE） increased from 0.10 mA/cm2 for the pristine α-Fe2O3 to 0.37 mA/cm2 for the CoOx/C modified α-Fe2O3 nanorods. As revealed by electrochemical analysis, thanks to the synergistic effect of CoOx and C, the PEC enhancement could be attributed to the enhanced charge transfer ability, decreased surface charge recombination, and accelerated water oxidation reaction kinetics. This study serves as a good example for improving PEC water splitting performance via a simple method.Given the proper band gap, low cost and good stability, hematite （α-Fe2O3） has been considered as a promising candidate for photoelectrochemical （PEC） water splitting, however suffers from the sluggish surface water oxidation reaction kinetics. In this study, a simple dip-coating process was used to modify the surface of α-Fe2O3 nanorod arrays with cobalt oxide （COOx） and carbon （C） for the improved PEC performance, with a photocurrent density at 1.6V （vs. reversible hydrogen electrode, RHE） increased from 0.10 mA/cm2 for the pristine α-Fe2O3 to 0.37 mA/cm2 for the CoOx/C modified α-Fe2O3 nanorods. As revealed by electrochemical analysis, thanks to the synergistic effect of CoOx and C, the PEC enhancement could be attributed to the enhanced charge transfer ability, decreased surface charge recombination, and accelerated water oxidation reaction kinetics. This study serves as a good example for improving PEC water splitting performance via a simple method.

关 键 词：Hematite nanorodsSurface modificationPhotoelectrochemical water splittingWater oxidationElectrochemical impedance spectroscopy 

分 类 号：O643.36[理学—物理化学] TB383.1[理学—化学]