title: Achieving Highly Efficient Photoelectrochemical Water Oxidation with a TiCl4Treated 3D Antimony-Doped SnO2Macropore/Branched α-Fe2O3Nanorod Heterojunction Photoanode.
abstract: Utilizing photoelectrochemical (PEC) cells to directly collecting solar energy into chemical fuels (e.g., H2via water splitting) is a promising way to tackle the energy challenge. α-Fe2O3has emerged as a desirable photoanode material in a PEC cell due to its wide spectrum absorption range, chemical stability, and earth abundant component. However, the short excited state lifetime, poor minority charge carrier mobility, and long light penetration depth hamper its application. Recently, the elegantly designed hierarchical macroporous composite nanomaterial has emerged as a strong candidate for photoelectrical applications. Here, a novel 3D antimony-doped SnO2(ATO) macroporous structure is demonstrated as a transparent conducting scaffold to load 1D hematite nanorod to form a composite material for efficient PEC water splitting. An enormous enhancement in PEC performance is found in the 3D electrode compared to the controlled planar one, due to the outstanding light harvesting and charge transport. A facile and simple TiCl4treatment further introduces the Ti doping into the hematite while simultaneously forming a passivation layer to eliminate adverse reactions. The results indicate that the structural design and nanoengineering are an effective strategy to boost the PEC performance in order to bring more potential devices into practical use.
authors.affiliation: MOE Key Laboratory of Bioinorganic and Synthetic Chemistry Lehn Institute of Functional Materials School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering Sun Yat-sen University Guangzhou 510275 P. R. China.
authors.forename: Yang-Fan
authors.initials: YF
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.affiliation: MOE Key Laboratory of Bioinorganic and Synthetic Chemistry Lehn Institute of Functional Materials School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering Sun Yat-sen University Guangzhou 510275 P. R. China.
authors.forename: Hua-Shang
authors.initials: HS
authors.lastname: Rao
authors.affiliation: MOE Key Laboratory of Bioinorganic and Synthetic Chemistry Lehn Institute of Functional Materials School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering Sun Yat-sen University Guangzhou 510275 P. R. China.
authors.forename: Bai-Xue
authors.initials: BX
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: MOE Key Laboratory of Bioinorganic and Synthetic Chemistry Lehn Institute of Functional Materials School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering Sun Yat-sen University Guangzhou 510275 P. R. China.
authors.forename: Ying
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.affiliation: MOE Key Laboratory of Bioinorganic and Synthetic Chemistry Lehn Institute of Functional Materials School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering Sun Yat-sen University Guangzhou 510275 P. R. China.
authors.forename: Hong-Yan
authors.initials: HY
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: MOE Key Laboratory of Bioinorganic and Synthetic Chemistry Lehn Institute of Functional Materials School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering Sun Yat-sen University Guangzhou 510275 P. R. China.
authors.forename: Dai-Bin
authors.initials: DB
authors.lastname: Kuang
authors.affiliation: MOE Key Laboratory of Bioinorganic and Synthetic Chemistry Lehn Institute of Functional Materials School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering Sun Yat-sen University Guangzhou 510275 P. R. China.
authors.forename: Cheng-Yong
authors.initials: CY
authors.lastname: Su
keywords: ATO; PEC water splitting; hematite; heterojunction; macropore