Enhanced solar water oxidation by CoWO4-WO3 heterojunction photoanode

Controllable Synthesis of N2-Intercalated WO3 Nanorod Photoanode Harvesting a Wide Range of Visible Light for Photoelectrochemical Water Oxidation

“…So, it can be used as an ideal new energy to replace the traditional energy. To date, among the different strategies for producing hydrogen, PEC water splitting is considered to be a promising process in which solar energy can be directly convert into hydrogen and oxygen using a semiconductor [ 4 ]. However, the overall efficiency of PEC water splitting is still relatively low due to the high kinetic overpotentials for the water oxidation reaction.…”

“…However, the solar spectrum utilization of WO 3 photoanode is still too low to be used for actual application due to its narrow visible light response range (λ < 460 nm). To enhance the PEC performance, many tactics have been employed to develop efficient WO 3 photoanode for water oxidation, including forming heterojunction, doping, loading co-catalysts, nanostructuring, tuning vacancies and so on [ 1 , 4 , 22 , 23 , 24 , 25 , 26 , 27 , 28 , 29 , 30 ]. Nanostructured WO 3 photoanodes have attracted more and more research attention to improve their PEC performance, because they offer superior performances than that of unspecified ones because of larger electrode/electrolyte interface area, efficient light absorption, and other structural benefits of nanostructures.…”

Temperature-Controlled Transformation of WO3 Nanowires into Active Facets-Exposed Hexagonal Prisms toward Efficient Visible-Light-Driven Water Oxidation

“…Great efforts have been dedicated to improve the PEC water oxidation performance of WO 3 photoanodes, such as surface passivation, − nanostructure engineering, ,,,,, crystal facet engineering, ,,, heterojunction construction, − selective doping, − and oxygen evolution cocatalyst loading. ,, Nanostructure control of WO 3 photoanodes have been recognized as an effective way to (1) increase the active sites at the surface–electrolyte interface, (2) reduce the hole migration length required for surface reactions, and (3) improve the electron transport for highly efficient PEC water oxidation. , Despite the unrelenting efforts on nanostructure control of WO 3 , the growth orientation control and facet engineering of WO 3 nanocrystals has been lesser explored to improve PEC water oxidation performance. ,,, Actually, intrinsic activities of semiconductor photoanodes depend strongly on the configuration of surface atoms and bonding environment that can be changed by controlling crystal facets. ,,,− By the combination of experiments and theory, recent studies have revealed that the (002) facets of WO 3 nanocrystals have higher intrinsic activities than the other facets owing to the highest oxygen atom density. ,, WO 3 nanocrystals with exposed (002) crystal facets have been developed by proper selection of a structure directing agent and/or tuning of synthesis parameters. ,, …”