A systematic study of post-activation temperature dependence on photoelectrochemical water splitting of one-step synthesized FeOOH CF photoanodes with erratically loaded ZrO2. Issue 13 (11th June 2021)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Kim, Sarang; Mahadik, Mahadeo A.; Anushkkaran, Periyasamy; Chae, Weon-Sik; Choi, Sun Hee; Jang, Jum Suk
• Is Part Of: Sustainable energy & fuels. Volume 5:Issue 13(2021)
• Page Start: 3414
• Page End: 3427
• Publication Date: 2021-06-11
• Subjects: Renewable energy sources -- Periodicals; Fuel cells -- Periodicals; Electric batteries -- Periodicals; Electrochemistry -- Periodicals; 660.297
• DOI: 10.1039/d1se00327e
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 2398-4902

Abstract

Abstract : The erratically ZrO2 loaded hematite cauliflower photoanodes quenched at 650 °C showed 14 times higher PEC performance than the conventionally prepared hematite nanorod photoanode (PQ650). Abstract : With regard to both the activity and stability of photoelectrode materials, in this study, a hematite cauliflower-like structure with irregularly loaded ZrO2 (ZrO2 –Fe2 O3 CF) was prepared from as-deposited samples. The effect of post-synthetic treatments such as systematic high-temperature heating at various temperatures (650, 700, 750, and 800 °C) for 10 min, followed by rapid cooling at room temperature (quenching) on interfacial properties and photoelectrochemical performance was investigated in detail. The photoelectrochemical performances of the quenched ZrO2 –Fe2 O3 CF samples were compared to those of conventionally synthesized hematite nanorod photoanodes quenched from 800 °C (PQ800). Interestingly, ZrO2 –Fe2 O3 CF photoanodes quenched from 650 °C exhibited 0.62 mA cm −2 photocurrent density at 1.23 V vs. RHE, which was 14 times higher than that of the conventionally synthesized hematite quenched from 650 °C (PQ650). Furthermore, ZrO2 –Fe2 O3 CF photoanodes quenched from 800 °C revealed a photocurrent density of 1.66 mA cm −2 at 1.23 V vs. RHE (twice that of PQ800) and improved charge separation efficiencies of η bulk = 15.6% and η surface = 94.6%, respectively. The XPS and HRTEM results also confirmed the irregular ZrO2 loading on the surface of Fe2 O3 CF. A possible formation and charge transfer mechanism of ZrO2 –Fe2 O3 CF was proposed based on a series of temperature-dependent experiments.