Ternary non-noble metal zinc-nickel-cobalt carbonate hydroxide cocatalysts toward highly efficient photoelectrochemical water splitting

doi:10.1016/j.jmst.2017.11.054

Abstract

Abstract:

TiO₂ photoanodes have aroused intensive research interest in photoelectrochemical (PEC) water splitting. However, they still suffer from poor electron-hole separation and sluggish oxygen evolution dynamics, leading to the low photoconversion efficiency and limiting commercial application. Here, we designed and fabricated novel ternary non-noble metal carbonate hydroxide (ZNC-CH) nanosheet cocatalysts and integrated them with TiO₂ nanorod arrays as highly efficient photoanodes of PEC cells. Compared with the pristine TiO₂, the photocurrent of photoanode with the optimal amount of ZNC-CH represents 3.2 times enhancement, and the onset potential is shifted toward the negative potential direction of 62 mV. The remarkable enhancement is attributed to the suppressed carrier recombination and enhanced charge transfer efficiency at the interface of TiO₂, ZNC-CH and electrolyte, which is closely related to the zinc elements modulated intrinsic activity of catalysts. Our results demonstrate that the introduction of multimetallic ZNC-CH cocatalysts onto photoanodes is a promising strategy to improve the PEC efficiency.

Key words: Photoelectrochemical cells, TiO₂, Cocatalysts, Carbonate hydroxides, Photoanodes

Fengren Cao, Wei Tian, Liang Li. Ternary non-noble metal zinc-nickel-cobalt carbonate hydroxide cocatalysts toward highly efficient photoelectrochemical water splitting[J]. J. Mater. Sci. Technol., 2018, 34(6): 899-904.

Figures/Tables 5

Fig. 1. SEM images of (a) the pristine TiO2 and (b) hybrid ZNC-CH/TiO2 nanorod arrays with the ZNC-CH reaction time of 20 min, and (c) corresponding XRD patterns. (d) TEM image of ZNC-CH/TiO2 hybrid nanostructure. (e) HRTEM and (f) SAED images of a single ZNC-CH nanosheet, indicating the polycrystalline characteristics.

Fig. 2. XPS spectra of ZNC-CH/TiO2 hybrid nanostructure: (a) survey spectrum, and (b-f) high-resolution Zn 2p, Ni 2p, Co 2p, O 1s, and C 1 s spectra.

Fig. 3. (a) J-V curves for the pristine TiO2 and ZNC-CH/TiO2 hybrid nanostructures with different ZNC-CH reaction time. (b) Long time transient J-t curves of ZNC-CH/TiO2 hybrid nanostructure with the ZNC-CH reaction time of 20 min at 1.23 V vs. RHE. (c) IPCE spectra of TiO2 and ZNC-CH/TiO2 nanostructures with the ZNC-CH reaction time of 20 min. (d) Solar-to-hydrogen conversion efficiency (η) of TiO2 and ZNC-CH/TiO2 hybrid nanostructures.

Fig. 4. (a) J-V curves for the pristine TiO2 and NiCo-CH/TiO2 hybrid nanostructures with different reaction time. (b) Long time transient J-t curves of NiCo-CH/TiO2 hybrid nanostructure with the reaction time of 20 min at 1.23 V bias vs. RHE.

Fig. 5. Nyquist plots of TiO2 and ZNC-CH/TiO2 hybrid nanostructures with different reaction time under light illumination at a bias voltage of 1.23 V vs. RHE.

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