title: Surviving High-Temperature Calcination: ZrO2-Induced Hematite Nanotubes for Photoelectrochemical Water Oxidation.
abstract: Nanotubular Fe2O3is a promising photoanode material, and producing morphologies that withstand high-temperature calcination (HTC) is urgently needed to enhance the photoelectrochemical (PEC) performance. This work describes the design and fabrication of Fe2O3nanotube arrays that survive HTC for the first time. By introducing a ZrO2shell on hydrothermal FeOOH nanorods by atomic layer deposition, subsequent high-temperature solid-state reaction converts FeOOH-ZrO2nanorods to ZrO2-induced Fe2O3nanotubes (Zr-Fe2O3NTs). The structural evolution of the hematite nanotubes is systematically explored. As a result of the nanostructuring and shortened charge collection distance, the nanotube photoanode shows a greatly improved PEC water oxidation activity, exhibiting a photocurrent density of 1.5 mA cm-2at 1.23 V (vs. reversible hydrogen electrode, RHE), which is the highest among hematite nanotube photoanodes without co-catalysts. Furthermore, a Co-Pi decorated Zr-Fe2O3NT photoanode reveals an enhanced onset potential of 0.65 V (vs. RHE) and a photocurrent of 1.87 mA cm-2(at 1.23 V vs. RHE).
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory for Green Chemical Technology of Ministry of Education, School of Chemical Engineering and Technology, Collaborative Innovation Center of Chemical Science and Engineering, Tianjin University, Weijin Road 92, Tianjin, 300072, China.
authors.forename: Chengcheng
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory for Green Chemical Technology of Ministry of Education, School of Chemical Engineering and Technology, Collaborative Innovation Center of Chemical Science and Engineering, Tianjin University, Weijin Road 92, Tianjin, 300072, China.
authors.forename: Ang
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory for Green Chemical Technology of Ministry of Education, School of Chemical Engineering and Technology, Collaborative Innovation Center of Chemical Science and Engineering, Tianjin University, Weijin Road 92, Tianjin, 300072, China.
authors.forename: Zhibin
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Luo
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory for Green Chemical Technology of Ministry of Education, School of Chemical Engineering and Technology, Collaborative Innovation Center of Chemical Science and Engineering, Tianjin University, Weijin Road 92, Tianjin, 300072, China.
authors.forename: Jijie
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory for Green Chemical Technology of Ministry of Education, School of Chemical Engineering and Technology, Collaborative Innovation Center of Chemical Science and Engineering, Tianjin University, Weijin Road 92, Tianjin, 300072, China.
authors.forename: Xiaoxia
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Chang
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory for Green Chemical Technology of Ministry of Education, School of Chemical Engineering and Technology, Collaborative Innovation Center of Chemical Science and Engineering, Tianjin University, Weijin Road 92, Tianjin, 300072, China.
authors.forename: Zhiqi
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory for Green Chemical Technology of Ministry of Education, School of Chemical Engineering and Technology, Collaborative Innovation Center of Chemical Science and Engineering, Tianjin University, Weijin Road 92, Tianjin, 300072, China.
authors.forename: Tuo
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory for Green Chemical Technology of Ministry of Education, School of Chemical Engineering and Technology, Collaborative Innovation Center of Chemical Science and Engineering, Tianjin University, Weijin Road 92, Tianjin, 300072, China.
authors.forename: Jinlong
authors.identifier: 0000-0001-7263-318X
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Gong
keywords: Fe2O3 nanotubes; depletion region; high-temperature calcination; water oxidation; zirconium doping