1. Fabrication of WO3/RGO/Ni:FeOOH heterostructure for synergistically enhancing photoelectrochemical water oxidation
- Author
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Wenjian Wu, Xiaofan Zhang, Bian Xiaofei, and Haitao Xu
- Subjects
Photocurrent ,Fabrication ,Materials science ,Kinetics ,General Physics and Astronomy ,Heterojunction ,Surfaces and Interfaces ,General Chemistry ,Electrolyte ,Condensed Matter Physics ,Surfaces, Coatings and Films ,Chemical engineering ,Water splitting ,Ternary operation ,Faraday efficiency - Abstract
The instability and low activity of WO3 is the hot-topic for photoelectrochemical (PEC) water splitting, which is decreased by a sluggish interfacial kinetics and incomplete water oxidation. Aiming at such issues, we designed a ternary WO3/RGO/Ni:FeOOH photoanode, which exhibits 2.05 times larger photocurrent (1.32 mA cm−2) than the WO3 NFs in 0.5 M Na2SO4 electrolyte solution, accompanied with 83 mV cathodic shift of onset potential. These results demonstrates PEC response can occurs only in Ni:FeOOH but not FeOOH. Therefore, Ni:FeOOH acting as bi-functional modifier, can not only increase light absorption but also promote charge transfer process by forming p-n heterojunction with the WO3 NFs. Besides, RGO forming a continuously conducting network can further improve charge separation process. Owing to their synergistic effects, the Faradaic efficiency and stability are both improved compared to its counterparts and the bare WO3 NFs. This work may inspire the PEC application in other co-catalyst decorated systems.
- Published
- 2021