title: Enhanced Performance of Photoelectrochemical Water Splitting with ITO@α-Fe2O3 Core-Shell Nanowire Array as Photoanode.
abstract: Hematite (α-Fe2O3) is one of the most promising candidates for photoelectrodes in photoelectrochemical water splitting system. However, the low visible light absorption coefficient and short hole diffusion length of pure α-Fe2O3 limits the performance of α-Fe2O3 photoelectrodes in water splitting. Herein, to overcome these drawbacks, single-crystalline tin-doped indium oxide (ITO) nanowire core and α-Fe2O3 nanocrystal shell (ITO@α-Fe2O3) electrodes were fabricated by covering the chemical vapor deposited ITO nanowire array with compact thin α-Fe2O3 nanocrystal film using chemical bath deposition (CBD) method. The J-V curves and IPCE of ITO@α-Fe2O3 core-shell nanowire array electrode showed nearly twice as high performance as those of the α-Fe2O3 on planar Pt-coated silicon wafers (Pt/Si) and on planar ITO substrates, which was considered to be attributed to more efficient hole collection and more loading of α-Fe2O3 nanocrystals in the core-shell structure than planar structure. Electrochemical impedance spectra (EIS) characterization demonstrated a low interface resistance between α-Fe2O3 and ITO nanowire arrays, which benefits from the well contact between the core and shell. The stability test indicated that the prepared ITO@α-Fe2O3 core-shell nanowire array electrode was stable under AM1.5 illumination during the test period of 40,000 s.
authors.forename: Jie
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.forename: Chunxiong
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Bao
authors.forename: Tao
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Yu
authors.forename: Yingfei
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Hu
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Flexible Electronics (KLOFE) & Institute of Advanced Materials (IAM), Jiangsu National Synergistic Innovation Center for Advanced Materials(SICAM), Nanjing Tech University (NanjingTech) , 211816 Nanjing, China.
authors.forename: Wenjun
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Luo
authors.forename: Weidong
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Zhu
authors.forename: Gao
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Fu
authors.forename: Zhaosheng
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Hao
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Gao
authors.forename: Faming
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Zhigang
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Zou
keywords: ITO; core−shell; nanowire array; photoanode; water splitting; α-Fe2O3