Title: | Thin-Layer Fe2TiO5 on Hematite for Efficient Solar Water Oxidation |
Authors: | Jiujun Deng,† Xiaoxin Lv,† Jinyin Liu,† Hui Zhang,† Kaiqi Nie,† Caihao Hong,‡ Jiaou Wang,‡ Xuhui Sun,*,† Jun Zhong,*,† and Shuit-Tong Lee† |
Institutions: | †Soochow University-Western University Centre for Synchrotron Radiation Research, Institute of Functional Nano and Soft Materials Laboratory (FUNSOM) and Collaborative Innovation Center of Suzhou Nano Science & Technology, Soochow University, Suzhou 215123, China ‡Beijing Synchrotron Radiation Facility, Institute of High Energy Physics, Beijing 100049, China |
Abstract: | A thin Fe2TiO5 layer was produced on hematite either by evaporating a TiCl4 solution on FeOOH or by a simple HF-assisted Ti treatment of FeOOH, both followed by annealing. The prepared Fe2TiO5-hematite heterostructure showed a significant enhancement in photocurrent density compared to that of the pristine hematite. For example, the sample after HF-assisted Ti treatment exhibited a significantly enhanced photocurrent of 2.0mA/cm2 at 1.23 V vs RHE. Moreover, the performance of the Fe2TiO5-hematite heterostructure can be further improved by coupling with Co-Pi catalysts, achieving a higher photocurrent of 2.6 mA/cm2 at 1.23 V vs RHE. Synchrotron-based soft X-ray absorption spectroscopy analyses clearly revealed the existence of an Fe2TiO5 structure on hematite forming a heterojunction, which reduced the photogenerated hole accumulation and then improved the performance. |
IF: | 13.344 |
Link: | http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/acsnano.5b01028 Editor: Danting Xiang |