ZnFe₂O₄ nanorods (NR's) were prepared by a chemical conversion method from β-FeOOH NRs grown on FTO substrates. To activate their photoactivity of ZnFe₂O₄ NRs for solar water splitting, the surface passivation was achieved with SiO₂ layer via facile and effective spray pyrolysis method. The presence of SiO₂ layer enhances the photocurrent density of the Pristine ZnFe₂O₄ from 143 µA/cm² to 212 µA/cm² at 1.23 V_RHE for 0.25 mM Si–ZnFe₂O₄, representing two time increment in the photocurrent density. The influences of amount of Si precursor (Tetraethyl orthosilicate) solutions on the physical properties and the passivation effect of SiO₂/ZnFe₂O₄ interfaces were investigated. This improved photoresponse of the Si-treated ZnFe₂O₄ NRs was attributed to the excellent charge transfer electrode/electrolyte interface. The effectively improved charge transfer properties of the Si-treated ZnFe₂O₄ NRs were demonstrated by the electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS), Mott–Schottky (MS) and intensity-modulated photocurrent spectroscopy (IMPS) analyses.

ZnFe ₂ O ₄纳米棒（NR's）是通过化学转化方法从生长在FTO基板上的β-FeOOHNRs制备的。为了激活ZnFe ₂ O ₄ NRs的光活性用于太阳能水分解，通过简便有效的喷雾热解方法，用SiO ₂层实现了表面钝化。对于0.25 mM Si–ZnFe ₂ O _4，在1.23 V _RHE时，SiO ₂层的存在将原始ZnFe ₂ O ₄的光电流密度从143 µA / cm ²增大到212 µA / cm ²。，代表光电流密度的两个时间增量。研究了硅前驱体（原硅酸四乙酯）溶液的量对SiO ₂ / ZnFe ₂ O ₄界面物理性能和钝化效果的影响。Si处理的ZnFe ₂ O ₄ NRs的这种改善的光响应归因于优异的电荷转移电极/电解质界面。通过电化学阻抗谱（EIS），莫特-肖特基（MS）和强度调制光电流谱（IMPS）分析证明了Si处理的ZnFe ₂ O ₄ NRs的电荷转移性能得到了有效改善。