Recent progress and perspectives on heteroatom doping of hematite photoanodes for photoelectrochemical water splitting

Abstract

Over the past few decades, extensive research on photoelectrochemical (PEC) water splitting has been conducted as a promising solution to meet the increasing demand for cleaner and renewable energy in...

Modulation of charge-transfer behavior via adaptive interface treatment for efficient photoelectrochemical water splitting

“…Generally, the PEC efficiency is evaluated by the efficiencies of light harvesting, charge transfer, and surface reaction. 2 UV/Vis diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (DRS) revealed that FeNi(OH) X had a trivial effect on light harvesting (Fig. S22†), suggesting that the improved PEC performance can be mainly ascribed to charge transfer and surface catalysis.…”

“…Solar-driven photoelectrochemical (PEC) water splitting has been broadly regarded as a promising solution for sustainable and decarbonized technology in the quest of green and renewable energy. 1–7 Since TiO 2 photoanodes, researched by Fujishima and Honda, 8,9 were employed to perform water splitting to produce hydrogen, a majority of semiconductors, for example, TiO 2 , 10 α-Fe 2 O 3 , 11–14 Ta 3 N 5 , 15,16 and BiVO 4 , 17–22 have been regarded as ideal photoanodes for PEC water splitting in recent years. Among various candidates, BiVO 4 is the most promising candidate for PEC water oxidation because of a low bandgap (2.4 eV), low cost, and ideal band-edge positions.…”

Boosting the photoelectrochemical water splitting of Fe2O3 by surface-state regulation

“…It can be seen that the N ss distribution of Fe 2 O 3 was extended to the inner conduction band (CB), leading to an increase in photogenerated electron and hole recombination and the triggering of the deleterious Fermi energy level pinning occurring at N ss and more negative potential values. 38,51,52 However, the N ss center of the Fe 2 O 3 /MoO 3 -350 photoanode was closer to the thermodynamic value of oxygen precipitation (1.23 V RHE ), which was more conducive to the transport of holes and significantly reduced the carrier recombination problem of the Fe 2 O 3 photoanode, promoting surface water oxidation.…”

High-performance BiVO4 photoanodes: elucidating the combined effects of Mo-doping and modification with cobalt polyoxometalate

“…7 Some of the most intensely investigated photoanodes are based on passivated high-quality semiconductors ( e.g. , Si or III–V compounds), 8–10 hybrid inorganic–organic architectures, 11–14 or on low-cost metal oxides, such as Fe 2 O 3 , 15,16 CuWO 4 17,18 or BiVO 4 . 3,19–27 In particular, BiVO 4 is an attractive material owing to its bandgap energy of ∼2.4 to 2.6 eV, which translates to the maximum theoretically achievable photocurrents of 6.4–8.9 mA cm −2 and the solar-to-hydrogen (STH) efficiencies of 8–11% under AM 1.5G (1 sun) illumination.…”