Developing visible light-responding photoelectrocatalysts
with
higher efficiency is highly demanded and broadly concerned in terms
of photoelectrochemical (PEC) water splitting. Here, we report that
by constructing a TiO2/CuInS2 p–n junction
and further decorating it with plasmonic Cu nanoparticles, the synthesized
TiO2/CuInS2/Cu photoanodes show significantly
enhanced visible light absorption and higher photoelectrocatalysis
efficiency, benefiting from the joint influence of the built-in electric
field and surface plasmonic resonance (SPR). Under >420 nm light
irradiation,
the photocurrent density is 2.36 mA/cm2 at 1.23 V vs reversible hydrogen electrode (RHE), enhanced by about
10 times than that of pure TiO2. Furthermore, the hydrogen
production rate was enhanced from an undetectable level to 4.552 μmol/cm2/h. Our results exhibit that the strategy of a double-layer
co-catalyst has promising applications in water splitting and other
solar energy-conversion areas.
Recently, the development of efficient and nonnoble photoelectrocatalysts with enhanced light absorption and high photoelectrochemical (PEC) performance has attracted increasing attention due to their potential in addressing the global fossil energy and environment crisis. In this work, we designed and prepared a topological insulator Bi 2 Te 3 film and non-noble plasmonic Cu nanoparticles onto one-dimensional (1D) TiO 2 nanorod (NR) array, forming TiO 2 /Bi 2 Te 3 /Cu photoanode. Benefiting from the synergistic effect of plasmonic Cu-induced hot electrons and Bi 2 Te 3 -supplied topological high-mobility electron channels, the PEC performance and charge separation of TiO 2 were enhanced. Accompanied by the improved light absorption, the optical band gap was narrowed from 3.02 eV for TiO 2 to 2.47 eV for TiO 2 /Bi 2 Te 3 /Cu. Moreover, the photocurrent density of pure TiO 2 was increased by about 3.05 times, from 0.77 mA/cm 2 at 1.23 V vs reversible hydrogen electrode (RHE) for TiO 2 to 2.33 mA/cm 2 for TiO 2 /Bi 2 Te 3 /Cu. Moreover, the recombination of photogenerated electron−hole pairs was also suppressed, and the carrier lifetime was prolonged from 24.6 ns for bare TiO 2 to 33.4 ns for TiO 2 /Bi 2 Te 3 /Cu. As a result, the TiO 2 / Bi 2 Te 3 /Cu photoanode showed good long-term cycling stability, with the H 2 generation rate from PEC water splitting reaching 20.3 μmol/cm 2 /h. Our results suggest that co-decorating topological insulators and plasmonic materials could be a promising strategy to improve the PEC performance of TiO 2 and may be applied in other photoelectrocatalysts.
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