Promoting Photoelectrochemical Water Oxidation on Ti-Doped Fe<sub>2</sub>O<sub>3</sub> Nanowires Photoanode by O<sub>2</sub> Plasma Treatment
Surface electron traps on semiconductor photoanodes mediate surface recombination and deteriorate the photoelectrochemical (PEC) water oxidation performance of the photoanode. Developing convenient methods to reduce surface electron traps is therefore essential for high efficiency PEC water oxidatio...
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MDPI AG
2021-01-01
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| author | Chuang Li Dan Wang Jiangli Gu Yichun Liu Xintong Zhang |
| author_facet | Chuang Li Dan Wang Jiangli Gu Yichun Liu Xintong Zhang |
| author_sort | Chuang Li |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Surface electron traps on semiconductor photoanodes mediate surface recombination and deteriorate the photoelectrochemical (PEC) water oxidation performance of the photoanode. Developing convenient methods to reduce surface electron traps is therefore essential for high efficiency PEC water oxidation on semiconductor photoanodes, particularly for nanostructured photoanodes with large surface area. Herein, we employ a O<sub>2</sub> plasma treatment to boost the PEC water oxidation performance of Ti-doped Fe<sub>2</sub>O<sub>3</sub> (Ti-Fe<sub>2</sub>O<sub>3</sub>) nanowires photoanodes, aiming to reduce surface oxygen vacancies, the dominant electron traps on Ti-Fe<sub>2</sub>O<sub>3</sub> surface. X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy and spectroscopic analyses show that the oxygen plasma treatment changes the structural, morphological and optical properties negligibly, but it does reduce the content of surface oxygen vacancies, as estimated from O1s X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy spectra. An optimal O<sub>2</sub> plasma treatment (200 W, 70 s) increases the photocurrent density of the Ti-Fe<sub>2</sub>O<sub>3</sub> nanowire photoanode to 2.14 mA·cm<sup>−2</sup> (1.23 V vs. RHE) under air mass 1.5G simulated solar light, which is 1.95 times higher than the pristine Ti-Fe<sub>2</sub>O<sub>3</sub> nanowire photoanode. The surface hole transfer efficiency is also improved by 1.66 times due to the reduced surface recombination. The work suggests that O<sub>2</sub> plasma treatment is a convenient but effective method to boost the PEC water oxidation performance of Ti-Fe<sub>2</sub>O<sub>3</sub> photoanode and might be applicable to other semiconducting oxide photoanodes for high efficiency PEC water splitting. |
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| spelling | doaj.art-c99c10d002314b678d60148e019d87c32023-12-03T12:33:47ZengMDPI AGCatalysts2073-43442021-01-011118210.3390/catal11010082Promoting Photoelectrochemical Water Oxidation on Ti-Doped Fe<sub>2</sub>O<sub>3</sub> Nanowires Photoanode by O<sub>2</sub> Plasma TreatmentChuang Li0Dan Wang1Jiangli Gu2Yichun Liu3Xintong Zhang4Key Laboratory of UV-Emitting Materials and Technology of Chinese Ministry of Education, School of Physics, Northeast Normal University, 5268 Renmin Street, Changchun 130024, ChinaInstitute for Interdisciplinary Quantum Information Technology, Jilin Engineering Normal University, Changchun 130052, ChinaKey Laboratory of UV-Emitting Materials and Technology of Chinese Ministry of Education, School of Physics, Northeast Normal University, 5268 Renmin Street, Changchun 130024, ChinaKey Laboratory of UV-Emitting Materials and Technology of Chinese Ministry of Education, School of Physics, Northeast Normal University, 5268 Renmin Street, Changchun 130024, ChinaKey Laboratory of UV-Emitting Materials and Technology of Chinese Ministry of Education, School of Physics, Northeast Normal University, 5268 Renmin Street, Changchun 130024, ChinaSurface electron traps on semiconductor photoanodes mediate surface recombination and deteriorate the photoelectrochemical (PEC) water oxidation performance of the photoanode. Developing convenient methods to reduce surface electron traps is therefore essential for high efficiency PEC water oxidation on semiconductor photoanodes, particularly for nanostructured photoanodes with large surface area. Herein, we employ a O<sub>2</sub> plasma treatment to boost the PEC water oxidation performance of Ti-doped Fe<sub>2</sub>O<sub>3</sub> (Ti-Fe<sub>2</sub>O<sub>3</sub>) nanowires photoanodes, aiming to reduce surface oxygen vacancies, the dominant electron traps on Ti-Fe<sub>2</sub>O<sub>3</sub> surface. X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy and spectroscopic analyses show that the oxygen plasma treatment changes the structural, morphological and optical properties negligibly, but it does reduce the content of surface oxygen vacancies, as estimated from O1s X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy spectra. An optimal O<sub>2</sub> plasma treatment (200 W, 70 s) increases the photocurrent density of the Ti-Fe<sub>2</sub>O<sub>3</sub> nanowire photoanode to 2.14 mA·cm<sup>−2</sup> (1.23 V vs. RHE) under air mass 1.5G simulated solar light, which is 1.95 times higher than the pristine Ti-Fe<sub>2</sub>O<sub>3</sub> nanowire photoanode. The surface hole transfer efficiency is also improved by 1.66 times due to the reduced surface recombination. The work suggests that O<sub>2</sub> plasma treatment is a convenient but effective method to boost the PEC water oxidation performance of Ti-Fe<sub>2</sub>O<sub>3</sub> photoanode and might be applicable to other semiconducting oxide photoanodes for high efficiency PEC water splitting.https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4344/11/1/82photoelectrochemical water splittingO<sub>2</sub> plasma treatmentsurface oxygen vacanciesTi-doped hematite nanowire arrays |
| spellingShingle | Chuang Li Dan Wang Jiangli Gu Yichun Liu Xintong Zhang Promoting Photoelectrochemical Water Oxidation on Ti-Doped Fe<sub>2</sub>O<sub>3</sub> Nanowires Photoanode by O<sub>2</sub> Plasma Treatment Catalysts photoelectrochemical water splitting O<sub>2</sub> plasma treatment surface oxygen vacancies Ti-doped hematite nanowire arrays |
| title | Promoting Photoelectrochemical Water Oxidation on Ti-Doped Fe<sub>2</sub>O<sub>3</sub> Nanowires Photoanode by O<sub>2</sub> Plasma Treatment |
| title_full | Promoting Photoelectrochemical Water Oxidation on Ti-Doped Fe<sub>2</sub>O<sub>3</sub> Nanowires Photoanode by O<sub>2</sub> Plasma Treatment |
| title_fullStr | Promoting Photoelectrochemical Water Oxidation on Ti-Doped Fe<sub>2</sub>O<sub>3</sub> Nanowires Photoanode by O<sub>2</sub> Plasma Treatment |
| title_full_unstemmed | Promoting Photoelectrochemical Water Oxidation on Ti-Doped Fe<sub>2</sub>O<sub>3</sub> Nanowires Photoanode by O<sub>2</sub> Plasma Treatment |
| title_short | Promoting Photoelectrochemical Water Oxidation on Ti-Doped Fe<sub>2</sub>O<sub>3</sub> Nanowires Photoanode by O<sub>2</sub> Plasma Treatment |
| title_sort | promoting photoelectrochemical water oxidation on ti doped fe sub 2 sub o sub 3 sub nanowires photoanode by o sub 2 sub plasma treatment |
| topic | photoelectrochemical water splitting O<sub>2</sub> plasma treatment surface oxygen vacancies Ti-doped hematite nanowire arrays |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4344/11/1/82 |
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