Engineered Sn- and Mg-doped hematite photoanodes for efficient photoelectrochemical water oxidation. Issue 32 (6th August 2020)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Cai, Jiajia; Chen, Hao; Liu, Cunxing; Yin, Shuaiqi; Li, Haijin; Xu, Liangcheng; Liu, Hao; Xie, Qian
• Is Part Of: Dalton transactions. Volume 49:Issue 32(2020)
• Page Start: 11282
• Page End: 11289
• Publication Date: 2020-08-06
• Subjects: Chemistry, Inorganic -- Periodicals; Chemistry, Physical and theoretical -- Periodicals; Chemistry, Inorganic -- Periodicals; 546.05
• DOI: 10.1039/c9dt03962g
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1477-9226

Abstract

Abstract : The photocurrent reached 1.1 mA cm −2 for Sn/Mg co-doping which relieved the α-Fe2 O3 lattice distortion and increased the doping concentration. Abstract : A feasible and cost-effective method was developed to improve the photoelectrochemical performance of the hematite (α-Fe2 O3 ) photoanode. Using a hydrothermal method, tin (Sn) and magnesium (Mg) (co-)doped hematite films were prepared and characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray photon spectroscopy (XPS), and Raman spectroscopy. The average particle size of the α-Fe2 O3 film varied from 150 to 300 nm. The photocurrent density of Sn-/Mg-co-doped α-Fe2 O3 reached a maximum of 1.1 mA cm −2 at 1.23 V RHE, which increased approximately 3 times compared to that of pristine α-Fe2 O3 . It also yielded a maximum applied bias photon-to-current efficiency (ABPE) of 0.09% at 1.08 V vs. RHE. The excellent PEC activity could be attributed to Mg co-doping relieving the lattice distortion caused by Sn doping, and improving both the charge injection efficiency and charge separation efficiency without obviously changing the carrier concentration, which was proved by electrochemical impedance spectroscopy. This promising co-doping strategy could also be extended to other candidatephotoelectrodes.