title: Nanostructured Ternary FeCrAl Oxide Photocathodes for Water Photoelectrolysis.
abstract: A sol-gel method for the synthesis of semiconducting FeCrAl oxide photocathodes for solar-driven hydrogen production was developed and applied for the production of meso- and macroporous layers with the overall stoichiometry Fe0.84Cr1.0Al0.16O3. Using transmission electron microscopy and energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, phase separation into Fe- and Cr-rich phases was observed for both morphologies. Compared to prior work and to the mesoporous layer, the macroporous FeCrAl oxide photocathode had a significantly enhanced photoelectrolysis performance, even at a very early onset potential of 1.1 V vs RHE. By optimizing the macroporous electrodes, the device reached current densities of up to 0.68 mA cm(-2) at 0.5 V vs RHE under AM 1.5 with an incident photon-to-current efficiency (IPCE) of 28% at 400 nm without the use of catalysts. Based on transient measurements, this performance increase could be attributed to an improved collection efficiency. At a potential of 0.75 V vs RHE, an electron transfer efficiency of 48.5% was determined.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry and Center for NanoScience (CeNS), Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München , Butenandtstr. 5-13 (E), 81377 Munich, Germany.
authors.forename: Ilina
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Kondofersky
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry and Center for NanoScience (CeNS), Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München , Butenandtstr. 5-13 (E), 81377 Munich, Germany.|Max-Planck-Institut für Eisenforschung GmbH, Max-Planck-Straße 1, 40237 Düsseldorf, Germany.
authors.forename: Alexander
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Müller
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry and Center for NanoScience (CeNS), Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München , Butenandtstr. 5-13 (E), 81377 Munich, Germany.
authors.forename: Halina K
authors.initials: HK
authors.lastname: Dunn
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry and Center for NanoScience (CeNS), Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München , Butenandtstr. 5-13 (E), 81377 Munich, Germany.
authors.forename: Alesja
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ivanova
authors.affiliation: Division of Materials Chemistry, Ruđer Bošković Institute , P.O. Box 180, 10002 Zagreb, Croatia.
authors.forename: Goran
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Štefanić
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry and Center for NanoScience (CeNS), Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München , Butenandtstr. 5-13 (E), 81377 Munich, Germany.
authors.forename: Martin
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ehrensperger
authors.affiliation: Max-Planck-Institut für Eisenforschung GmbH, Max-Planck-Straße 1, 40237 Düsseldorf, Germany.
authors.forename: Christina
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Scheu
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry and School of Energy Resources, University of Wyoming , 1000 East University Avenue, Laramie, Wyoming 82071, United States.
authors.forename: Bruce A
authors.initials: BA
authors.lastname: Parkinson
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry and Center for NanoScience (CeNS), Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München , Butenandtstr. 5-13 (E), 81377 Munich, Germany.
authors.forename: Dina
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Fattakhova-Rohlfing
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry and Center for NanoScience (CeNS), Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München , Butenandtstr. 5-13 (E), 81377 Munich, Germany.
authors.forename: Thomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Bein