High-efficiency p-n junction oxide photoelectrodes for photoelectrochemical water splitting.
Development of all oxide p-n junctions makes a significant advancement in photoelectrode catalysis functional materials. In this article, we report the preparation of TiO2nanorod (NR)/Cu2O photoanodes via a simple hydrothermal method followed by an electrochemical deposition process. This facile synthesis route can simultaneously achieve uniform TiO2NR/Cu2O composite nanostructures and obtain varied amounts of Cu2O by controlling the deposition time. The photocurrent density of TiO2NR/Cu2O heterojunction photoanodes enhanced the photocatalytic activity with a photocurrent density of 5.25 mA cm-2at 1.23 V versus RHE compared to pristine TiO2NR photoanodes under the same conditions. It is demonstrated that the presence of Cu2O has played an important role in expanding the spectral response region and reducing the photogenerated charge recombination rate. More importantly, the results provide new insights into the performance of all oxide p-n junctions as photoanodes for PEC water splitting.
Hubei Collaborative Innovation Center for High-efficiency Utilization of Solar Energy, Hubei University of Technology, Wuhan, 430068, China. tjulzf@163.com and School of Science, Hubei University of Technology, Wuhan, 430068, China.
Zhifeng
Z
Liu
School of Materials Science and Engineering, Tianjin Chengjian University, 300384, Tianjin, China.
Lu
L
Yan