Formation of photo-reactive heterostructure from a multicomponent amorphous alloy with atomically random distribution

doi:10.1016/j.jmst.2021.08.029

Abstract

Abstract:

In this study, metallic glass is designed tunable for promising functional applications via a facile and stable, one-step process. Creative approach about alloy design and process is based on the unique properties of the Ti-Cu-Ni-Sn metallic glass that are afforded by the varying oxygen affinities of the four constituent elements. This metallic glass exhibits homogeneous nucleation of oxides and uniform formation of the various metal oxides. The alloy design and hydrothermal synthesis to customize the metallic glasses are the most critical factors that determine the characteristics of the metal oxides and the resulting nanostructures and photoelectrode properties. This enables the desired element to be selectively grown via a facile single-step process. These results provide a promising road map for the application of metallic glasses to photoelectrochemical (PEC) solar water splitting, as well as various other new possibilities.

Key words: Metallic glass, Alloy design, Hydrothermal synthesis, Metal oxide, Water splitting

Hae Jin Park, Hee Jin Lee, Tae Kyung Kim, Sung Hwan Hong, Wei-Min Wang, Taek Jib Choi, Ki Buem Kim. Formation of photo-reactive heterostructure from a multicomponent amorphous alloy with atomically random distribution[J]. J. Mater. Sci. Technol., 2022, 109: 245-253.

Figures/Tables 5

Fig. 1. Alloy design and synthesis of TiCuNiSn metallic glass. (a) Schematic illustrations of the atomically disordered amorphous structure. (b) Schematic illustrations of the layered structure of the water splitting electrode fabricated by one-step process. (c) Digital micrograph. (d) XRD pattern.

Fig. 2. Phase and structural characterization of TCNS-96. (a) Bright field (BF) TEM image and selected area electron diffraction (SAED) patterns of each individual layer from oxide to metal of TCNS-96. (b) High-resolution (HR) TEM image and SAED patterns taken form Oxide layer (O), Interlayer (I), and Metal layer (M). (c) HAADF scanning TEM image and the line profile of TCNS-96. (d) The elemental mappings of Ti, Cu, Ni, Sn, and O collected from the ribbon within the oxide layer of TCNS-96.

Fig. 3. XPS depth profiling of the TCNS-96 from the individual layers. (a) De-convoluted XPS spectra for the Sn 3d5/2 peaks. (b) Ti 2p3/2 and Ti 2p1/2 peaks from the surface (i), the oxide layer (ii), the interlayer (iii), and the metal layer (iv).

Fig. 4. PEC performance evaluation of TCNS-96. (a) Linear sweep voltammetry (LSV) scans of TCNS-96 with a scan rate of 10 mV s-1 indicating the potential versus RHE for HER. (b) LSV scans for OER. Dark LSV curves are presented as a black line in each figure. The inset of a displays a band diagram of electrolyte heterojunction at equilibrium where the Fermi level of the HER and OER levels are aligned. The inset of (b) shows the time-dependent photocurrent density of the TCNS-96 photoelectrode during repeated on/off cycling of simulated sunlight illumination.

Fig. 5. PEC performance of TCNS-96 as the counter electrode while acting as the working electrode, simultaneously. (a) Schematic illustration of a PEC cell for water splitting in a three-electrode configuration: working electrode-TCNS-96, reference electrode-Ag/AgCl, and counter electrode-TCNS-96 (b) a digital micrograph of the PEC cell. (c) Linear sweep voltammetry (LSV) scans using a PEC cell with TCNS-96 as a counter electrode at a scan rate of 10 mV s-1 indicating the potential versus RHE for HER. Dark and light LSV curves using a PEC cell with Pt as a counter electrode are presented as black and magenta lines, respectively, in the figure. (d) Time-dependent photocurrent density from PEC cell with TCNS-96 as both a counter electrode and a working electrode and the illumination period is 20 s.

References 54

[1]	A. Inoue, Acta Mater. 48 (2000) 279-306. DOI URL
[2]	W.L. Johnson, MRS Bull. 24 (1999) 42-56. DOI URL
[3]	J.M. Park, H.J. Chang, K.H. Han, W.T. Kim, D.H. Kim, Scr. Mater. 53 (2005) 1-6. DOI URL
[4]	D.C. Hofmann, J.Y. Suh, A. Wiest, G. Duan, M.L. Lind, M.D. Demetriou, W.L. Johnson, Nature 451 (2008) 1085-1089. DOI URL
[5]	Y. Wu, Y. Xiao, G. Chen, C.T. Liu, Z. Lu, Adv. Mater. 22 (2010) 2770-2773. DOI URL
[6]	J.M. Park, D.H. Kim, M. Stoica, N. Mattern, R. Li, J. Eckert, J. Mater. Res. 26 (2011) 2080. DOI URL
[7]	M. Carmo, R.C. Sekol, S. Ding, G. Kumar, J. Schroers, A.D. Taylor, ACS Nano 5 (2011) 2979-2983. DOI URL
[8]	M. Chen, Annu. Rev. Mater. Res. 38 (2008) 445-469. DOI URL
[9]	K. Takanabe, ACS Catal. 7 (2017) 8006-8022. DOI URL
[10]	B.W. An, E.J. Gwak, K. Kim, Y.C. Kim, J. Jang, J.Y. Kim, J.U. Park, Nano Lett. 16 (2016) 471-478. DOI URL
[11]	G. Doubek, R.C. Sekol, J. Li, W. Ryu, F.S. Gittleson, S. Nejati, E. Moy, C. Reid, M. Carmo, M. Linardi, Adv. Mater. 28 (2016) 1940-1949. DOI
[12]	Y.C. Hu, Y.Z. Wang, R. Su, C.R. Cao, F. Li, C.W. Sun, Y. Yang, P.F. Guan, D.W. Ding, Z.L. Wang, Adv. Mater. 28 (2016) 10293-10297. DOI URL
[13]	L.C. Zhang, Z. Jia, F. Lyu, S.X. Liang, J. Lu, Prog. Mater. Sci. 105 (2019) 100576. DOI URL
[14]	B. Sarac, Y.P. Ivanov, T. Karazehir, M. Mühlbacher, B. Kaynak, A.L. Greer, A.S. Sarac, J. Eckert, Mater. Horiz. 6 (2019) 1481-1487. DOI URL
[15]	F. Hu, S. Zhu, S. Chen, Y. Li, L. Ma, T. Wu, Y. Zhang, C. Wang, C. Liu, X. Yang, Adv. Mater. 29 (2017) 1606570. DOI URL
[16]	Y. Hu, C. Sun, C. Sun, ChemCatChem 11 (2019) 2401-2414. DOI URL
[17]	S. Gao, J. Jia, S. Chen, H. Luan, Y. Shao, K. Yao, RSC Adv. 7 (2017) 27058-27064. DOI URL
[18]	Y. Tan, F. Zhu, H. Wang, Y. Tian, A. Hirata, T. Fujita, M. Chen, Adv. Mater. Inter-faces 4 (2017) 1601086.
[19]	M.G. Walter, E.L. Warren, J.R. McKone, S.W. Boettcher, Q. Mi, E.A. Santori, N.S. Lewis, Chem. Rev. 110 (2010) 6446-6473. DOI URL
[20]	T.J. Meyer, Nature 451 (2008) 778-780. DOI URL
[21]	S. Chu, A. Majumdar, Nature 488 (2012) 294-303. DOI URL
[22]	K. Maeda, K. Teramura, D. Lu, T. Takata, N. Saito, Y. Inoue, K. Domen, Nature 440 (2006) 295. DOI URL
[23]	S. Park, Y. Shao, J. Liu, Y. Wang, Energy Environ. Sci. 5 (2012) 9331-9344. DOI URL
[24]	M. Gong, H. Dai, Nano Res. 8 (2015) 23-39. DOI URL
[25]	W.J. Ong, L.L. Tan, Y.H. Ng, S.T. Yong, S.P. Chai, Chem. Rev. 116 (2016) 7159-7329. DOI URL
[26]	X. Yang, R. Liu, Y. He, J. Thorne, Z. Zheng, D. Wang, Nano Res. 8 (2015) 56-81. DOI URL
[27]	M. Shao, Q. Chang, J.P. Dodelet, R. Chenitz, Chem. Rev. 116 (2016) 3594-3657. DOI URL
[28]	Y.C. Kim, S. Yi, W.T. Kim, D.H. Kim, MRS Online Proc. Libr. Arch. 644 (2000) 491-496.
[29]	N.S. Saadi, L.B. Hassan, T. Karabacak, Sci. Rep. 7 (2017) 1-8. DOI URL
[30]	H.J. Park, J.H. Lee, Y.S. Kim, S.C. Mun, T.J. Choi, E. Jumaev, S.H. Hong, J.T. Kim, J.M. Park, K.B. Kim, Mater. Des. 167 (2019) 107616. DOI URL
[31]	K. Byrappa, T. Adschiri, Prog. Cryst. Growth Charact. Mater. 53 (2007) 117-166. DOI URL
[32]	K. Byrappa, M. Yoshimura, Handbook of Hydrothermal Technology, William Andrew, 2012.
[33]	M. Troyon, L. Wang, Appl. Surf. Sci. 103 (1996) 517-523. DOI URL
[34]	H. Wu, Y. Wang, Q. Zhong, M. Sheng, H. Du, Z. Li, J. Electroanal. Chem. 663 (2011) 59-66. DOI URL
[35]	A. Dhawan, V. Zaporojtchenko, F. Faupel, S.K. Sharma, J. Mater. Sci. 42 (2007) 9037-9044. DOI URL
[36]	K.R. Lim, C.E. Kim, Y.S. Yun, W.T. Kim, A. Soon, D.H. Kim, Sci. Rep. 5 (2015) 1-8.
[37]	R.P. Oleksak, E.B. Hostetler, B.T. Flynn, J.M. McGlone, N.P. Landau, J.F. Wager, W.F. Stickle, G.S. Herman, Thin Solid Films 595 (2015) 209-213. DOI URL
[38]	X. Sun, S. Schneider, U. Geyer, W.L. Johnson, M.A. Nicolet, J. Mater. Res. 11 (1996) 2738-2743. DOI URL
[39]	S. Anuchai, S. Phanichphant, D. Tantraviwat, P. Pluengphon, T. Bovornrata-naraks, B. Inceesungvorn, J. Colloid Interface Sci. 512 (2018) 105-114. DOI URL
[40]	X. Chen, Y. Huang, K. Zhang, X. Feng, M. Wang, Electrochim. Acta 259 (2018) 131-142. DOI URL
[41]	X. Chen, Y. Huang, K. Zhang, X. Feng, C. Wei, J. Alloy. Compd. 690 (2017) 765-770. DOI URL
[42]	L. Zhu, H. Lu, D. Hao, L. Wang, Z. Wu, L. Wang, P. Li, J. Ye, ACS Appl. Mater. Interfaces 9 (2017) 38537-38544. DOI URL
[43]	M. Manikandan, T. Tanabe, P. Li, S. Ueda, G.V. Ramesh, R. Kodiyath, J. Wang, T. Hara, A. Dakshanamoorthy, S. Ishihara, ACS Appl. Mater. Interfaces 6 (2014) 3790-3793. DOI URL
[44]	S.K. Sharma, T. Strunskus, H. Ladebusch, V. Zaporojtchenko, F. Faupel, J. Mater. Sci. 43 (2008) 5495-5503. DOI URL
[45]	A.A. Marakushev, N.I. Bezmen, Int. Geol. Rev. 13 (1971) 1781-1794. DOI URL
[46]	D.R. Lide, CRC Handbook of Chemistry and Physics, CRC press, 2004.
[47]	M.W. Chase, J. Phys. Chem. Ref. Data, Monograph 9 (1998) 1-1951.
[48]	S. Cahen, N. David, J.M. Fiorani, A. Maıtre, M. Vilasi, Thermochim. Acta 403 (2003) 275-285. DOI URL
[49]	P. Mohanty, N.C. Mishra, R.J. Choudhary, A. Banerjee, T. Shripathi, N.P. Lalla, S. Annapoorni, C. Rath, J. Phys. D. Appl. Phys. 45 (2012) 325301. DOI URL
[50]	W. Xia, H. Qian, X. Zeng, J. Sun, P. Wang, M. Luo, J. Dong, RSC Adv. 9 (2019) 23334-23342. DOI URL
[51]	S. Sharma, S. Chaudhary, S.C. Kashyap, S.K. Sharma, J. Appl. Phys. 109 (2011) 83905. DOI URL
[52]	A. Seko, A. Togo, F. Oba, I. Tanaka, Phys. Rev. Lett. 100 (2008) 45702. DOI URL
[53]	F. Zhang, Y. Lian, M. Gu, J. Yu, T.B. Tang, J. Phys. Chem. C 121 (2017) 16006-16011. DOI URL
[54]	K. Fan, F. Li, L. Wang, Q. Daniel, E. Gabrielsson, L. Sun, Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys. 16 (2014) 25234-25240. DOI PMID