Doping elements in hematite nanostructures is a promising approach to improve the photoelectrochemical (PEC) water-splitting performance of hematite photoanodes. However, uniform doping with precise control on doping amount and morphology is the major challenge for quantitatively investigating the PEC water-splitting enhancement. Here, we report on the design and synthesis of uniform titanium (Ti)-doped hematite nanorods with precise control of the Ti amount and morphology for highly effective PEC water splitting using an atomic layer deposition assisted solid-state diffusion method. We found that Ti doping promoted band bending and increased the carrier density as well as the surface state. Remarkably, these uniformly doped hematite nanorods exhibited high PEC performance with a pronounced photocurrent density of 2.28 mA/cm(2) at 1.23 V vs reversible hydrogen electrode (RHE) and 4.18 mA/cm(2) at 1.70 V vs RHE, respectively. Furthermore, as-prepared Ti-doping hematite nanorods performed excellent repeatability and durability; over 80% of the as-fabricated photoanodes reproduced the steady photocurrent density of 1.9-2.2 mA/cm(2) at 1.23 V vs RHE at least 3 h in a strong alkaline electrolyte solution.
Herein, we presented hierarchical three-dimensional (3D) branched hematite nanorod arrays (NAs) on transparent fluorine-doped tin oxide (FTO) conductive glass substrates, which exhibited high PEC water splitting performance due to the enhancement of mid-visible light harvesting as well as charge separation and transfer. The introduction of a TiO2 underlayer made the as-prepared 3D branched hematite NAs achieve a photocurrent density of 0.61 mA cm(-2) at 1.23 V vs. reversible hydrogen electrode (RHE) without high-temperature activation.
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