Developing highly stable and broad spectrum responsive semiconductor photoelectrode materials without the use of hole scavengers is challenging for photoelectrochemical protection application. In this study, α-Fe₂O₃/NiFe(OH)_x electrodes were successfully prepared by combining hydrothermal method and simple drop-casting technique. The morphology, structure, composition and optical property of the obtained electrodes were well characterized by SEM, XRD, XPS and UV–vis DRS. α-Fe₂O₃/NiFe(OH)_x electrode exhibited enhanced photocathodic protection performance as compared to hematite (α-Fe₂O₃) electrode, and greatly shift photo potential and self-corrosion potential of the coupled 304 stainless steel into a more negative region. Remarkably, under visible light illumination, the prepared electrodes can protect the 304 stainless steel without the use of hole scavengers. Meanwhile, the photoanodes can maintain a better photo-stability without losing its activity. The possible mechanism for the enhanced photocathodic protection performance is proposed, which is involved with the fast hole transfer from hematite to NiFe(OH)_x cocatalyst and generates high valence state Ni species to drive the water oxidation reaction. The reduced charge recombination will result in the effective electron transfer from the α-Fe₂O₃/NiFe(OH)_x electrode to the 304 stainless steel and realize the effective protection.

在不使用空穴清除剂的情况下开发出高度稳定且具有广谱响应性的半导体光电极材料对于光电化学保护应用而言具有挑战性。在这项研究中，的α-Fe ₂ ö ₃ /镍铁（OH）_X成功地通过结合水热法和简单的滴铸技术来制备电极。通过SEM，XRD，XPS和UV-vis DRS对得到的电极的形貌，结构，组成和光学性质进行了很好的表征。的α-Fe ₂ ö ₃ /镍铁（OH）_X电极表现为相对于赤铁矿增强光电阴极保护性能（的α-Fe ₂ ö ₃电极），并将耦合后的304不锈钢的光势和自腐蚀电势大大转移到一个更负的区域。值得注意的是，在可见光照射下，制备的电极无需使用空穴清除剂即可保护304不锈钢。同时，光阳极可以保持更好的光稳定性而不会失去其活性。提出了提高光阴极保护性能的可能机制，该机制涉及从赤铁矿到NiFe（OH）_x助催化剂的快速空穴转移，并生成高价态Ni物种来驱动水氧化反应。减小的电荷重组将导致从该有效的电子转移的α-Fe ₂ ö ₃ /镍铁（OH）_X 电极连接到304不锈钢并实现有效的保护。