Issue 13, 2020

Effect of Sn-self diffusion via H2 treatment on low temperature activation of hematite photoanodes

Abstract

The objective of this study was to report the preparation of a highly efficient hematite nanorod photoanode by H2 treatment of the β-FeOOH nanorod with subsequent quenching in air at lower temperature activation for photoelectrochemical (PEC) water oxidation. The hematite nanorod photoanode (H650) prepared by thermally treating the β-FeOOH nanorod at 360 °C for 1 h under H2 flow and quenching at 650 °C for 10 min in air exhibited a remarkable photocurrent of 1.17 mA cm−2 at 1.23 V vs. RHE, which was 20 times higher than that of hematite quenched at the same temperature without H2 treatment. Such enhanced PEC performance was attributed to high Sn4+ diffusion from the fluorine doped SnO2 (FTO) substrate via H2 treatment and Sn4+ doping by subsequent lower temperature quenching. Our density functional theory (DFT) calculation supports our experimental results and proposed mechanism in that the Sn replacement reaction of magnetite (Fe3O4, H2-reduced β-FeOOH) occurs at a lower temperature and requires a smaller energy than that of akaganeite (β-FeOOH).

Graphical abstract: Effect of Sn-self diffusion via H2 treatment on low temperature activation of hematite photoanodes

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
15 Apr 2020
Accepted
26 May 2020
First published
27 May 2020

Catal. Sci. Technol., 2020,10, 4245-4255

Effect of Sn-self diffusion via H2 treatment on low temperature activation of hematite photoanodes

H. Ma, J. A. Kwon, M. A. Mahadik, S. Kim, H. H. Lee, S. H. Choi, W. Chae, D. Lim and J. S. Jang, Catal. Sci. Technol., 2020, 10, 4245 DOI: 10.1039/D0CY00763C

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