title: Hematite-based photoelectrochemical water splitting supported by inverse opal structures of graphene.
abstract: By coupling α-Fe2O3 with a 3D graphene inverse opal (3D-GIO) conducting electrode, the short diffusion length of carriers and low absorption coefficient in α-Fe2O3 for photoelectrochemical applications were successfully addressed. GIO was directly grown on FTO substrate under low temperature conditions, removing the need for a graphene transfer process. α-Fe2O3 nanoparticles (NPs) were hydrothermally deposited on the surface of GIO, creating α-Fe2O3/GIO. The photocurrent density of α-Fe2O3/GIO in water splitting reactions reached 1.62 mA/cm(2) at 1.5 V vs RHE, which is 1.4 times greater than that of optimized α-Fe2O3. The EIS and IPCE data confirm reduced electron-hole recombination and fast electron transfer processes due to the short distance between active materials and the conducting electrode in the α-Fe2O3/GIO system. Our result may pave the way for designing devices in advanced energy conversion applications as well as a high efficiency hematite-based PEC system.
authors.affiliation: School of Energy and Chemical Engineering, Low Dimensional Carbon Materials Center, Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology (UNIST) , Ulsan 689-798, Korea.
authors.forename: Ki-Yong
authors.initials: KY
authors.lastname: Yoon
authors.forename: Jung-Soo
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Kwanghyun
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Chang Hong
authors.initials: CH
authors.lastname: Bak
authors.forename: Sun-I
authors.initials: SI
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Jin-Baek
authors.initials: JB
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Ji-Hyun
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Jang
keywords: 3D graphene; hydrogen generation; photoelectrochemical cells (PEC); short hole diffusion length; water splitting