Surface treatment of hematite photoanodes with zinc acetate for water oxidation

Lifei Xi; Prince Saurabh Bassi; Sing Yang Chiam; Wai Fatt Mak; Phong D. Tran; James Barber; Joachim Say Chye Loo; Lydia Helena Wong

doi:10.1039/c2nr30862b

Surface treatment of hematite photoanodes with zinc acetate for water oxidation

Lifei Xi, Prince Saurabh Bassi, Sing Yang Chiam, Wai Fatt Mak, Phong D. Tran, James Barber, Joachim Say Chye Loo^*, Lydia Helena Wong

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

94 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

A simple and inexpensive method to form a hematite photoanode for efficient water oxidation is reported. A very thin ZnO overlayer was deposited on top of a thin film of hematite and found, compared with non-treated hematite, to increase the photocurrent and reduce the onset potential for generating oxygen from water. After 3 cycles of ZnAc treatment, the photocurrent increased more than 40% to 1.08 mA cm^-2 at 0.23 V vs. Ag/AgCl and onset potential for water oxidation shifted by -170 mV. It is proposed that the ZnO overlayer changes the flat band potential of hematite and reduces the surface defects.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	4430-4433
Number of pages	4
Journal	Nanoscale
Volume	4
Issue number	15
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1039/c2nr30862b
Publication status	Published - Aug 7 2012
Externally published	Yes

ASJC Scopus Subject Areas

General Materials Science

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title = "Surface treatment of hematite photoanodes with zinc acetate for water oxidation",

abstract = "A simple and inexpensive method to form a hematite photoanode for efficient water oxidation is reported. A very thin ZnO overlayer was deposited on top of a thin film of hematite and found, compared with non-treated hematite, to increase the photocurrent and reduce the onset potential for generating oxygen from water. After 3 cycles of ZnAc treatment, the photocurrent increased more than 40\% to 1.08 mA cm-2 at 0.23 V vs. Ag/AgCl and onset potential for water oxidation shifted by -170 mV. It is proposed that the ZnO overlayer changes the flat band potential of hematite and reduces the surface defects.",

author = "Lifei Xi and Bassi, \{Prince Saurabh\} and Chiam, \{Sing Yang\} and Mak, \{Wai Fatt\} and Tran, \{Phong D.\} and James Barber and \{Chye Loo\}, \{Joachim Say\} and Wong, \{Lydia Helena\}",

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T1 - Surface treatment of hematite photoanodes with zinc acetate for water oxidation

AU - Xi, Lifei

AU - Bassi, Prince Saurabh

AU - Chiam, Sing Yang

AU - Mak, Wai Fatt

AU - Tran, Phong D.

AU - Barber, James

AU - Chye Loo, Joachim Say

AU - Wong, Lydia Helena

PY - 2012/8/7

Y1 - 2012/8/7

N2 - A simple and inexpensive method to form a hematite photoanode for efficient water oxidation is reported. A very thin ZnO overlayer was deposited on top of a thin film of hematite and found, compared with non-treated hematite, to increase the photocurrent and reduce the onset potential for generating oxygen from water. After 3 cycles of ZnAc treatment, the photocurrent increased more than 40% to 1.08 mA cm-2 at 0.23 V vs. Ag/AgCl and onset potential for water oxidation shifted by -170 mV. It is proposed that the ZnO overlayer changes the flat band potential of hematite and reduces the surface defects.

AB - A simple and inexpensive method to form a hematite photoanode for efficient water oxidation is reported. A very thin ZnO overlayer was deposited on top of a thin film of hematite and found, compared with non-treated hematite, to increase the photocurrent and reduce the onset potential for generating oxygen from water. After 3 cycles of ZnAc treatment, the photocurrent increased more than 40% to 1.08 mA cm-2 at 0.23 V vs. Ag/AgCl and onset potential for water oxidation shifted by -170 mV. It is proposed that the ZnO overlayer changes the flat band potential of hematite and reduces the surface defects.

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Surface treatment of hematite photoanodes with zinc acetate for water oxidation

Abstract

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