Solution growth of Ta-doped hematite nanorods for efficient photoelectrochemical water splitting: a tradeoff between electronic structure and nanostructure evolution

Physical Chemistry Chemical Physics : PCCP
Yanming FuShaohua Shen

Abstract

Ta-doped hematite (α-Fe2O3) nanorod array films were successfully prepared on fluorine-doped tin dioxide (FTO) coated glass substrates via a facile solution growth process with TaCl5 as a Ta doping precursor. Under 1 sun illumination and at an applied potential of 1.0 V vs. Ag/AgCl, the Ta-doped α-Fe2O3 photoanode with optimized dopant concentration showed a photocurrent density as high as 0.53 mA cm(-2), which was about 3.5 times higher than that of the undoped sample. As demonstrated by Mott-Schottky and X-ray absorption spectroscopy measurements, considerable increase in photoelectrochemical (PEC) performance achieved for Ta-doped α-Fe2O3 nanorod films should be mainly attributed to the increased electron donor density induced by Ta doping. However, with superfluous Ta doping, the [110]-oriented nanorod structure was destroyed, which caused greatly restrained photoinduced holes transferring to the surface and retarded surface water oxidation reaction, leading to decreased PEC water splitting activity. This study clearly demonstrated that doping could be effective to enhance the PEC activity of α-Fe2O3 nanorods as photoanodes, while it is of great necessity to balance the trade-off between the electronic structure and nanostr...Continue Reading

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Citations

Feb 14, 2018·Dalton Transactions : an International Journal of Inorganic Chemistry·Jin Woo ParkJum Suk Jang
Jun 5, 2017·Scientific Reports·Kazuo Onuma, Mayumi Iijima
Dec 4, 2019·Journal of the American Chemical Society·Zhaohui ZhouOleg V Prezhdo

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