Phosphorus Cation Doping: A New Strategy for Boosting Photoelectrochemical Performance on TiO2 Nanotube Photonic Crystals

Zhenzhen Li; Yanmei Xin; Wenlong Wu; Baihe Fu; Zhonghai Zhang

doi:10.1021/acsami.6b10688

Phosphorus Cation Doping: A New Strategy for Boosting Photoelectrochemical Performance on TiO₂ Nanotube Photonic Crystals

ACS Appl Mater Interfaces. 2016 Nov 16;8(45):30972-30979. doi: 10.1021/acsami.6b10688. Epub 2016 Nov 4.

Authors

Zhenzhen Li¹, Yanmei Xin¹, Wenlong Wu¹, Baihe Fu¹, Zhonghai Zhang¹

Affiliation

¹ School of Chemistry and Molecular Engineering, East China Normal University , 500 Dongchuan Road, Shanghai 200241, China.

PMID: 27791348
DOI: 10.1021/acsami.6b10688

Abstract

Photoelectrochemical (PEC) water splitting is a promising technique for sustainable hydrogen generation. However, PEC performance on current semiconductors needs further improvement. Herein, a phosphorus cation doping strategy is proposed to fundamentally boost PEC performance on TiO₂ nanotube photonic crystal (TiO₂ NTPC) photoelectrodes in both the visible-light region and full solar-light illumination. The self-supported P-TiO₂ NTPC photoelectrodes are fabricated by a facile two-step electrochemical anodization method and subsequent phosphidation treatment. The Ti⁴⁺ is partially replaced by P cations (P⁵⁺) from the crystal lattice, which narrows the band gap of TiO₂ and induces charge imbalance by the formation of Ti-O-P bonds. We believe the combination of unique photonic nanostructures of TiO₂ NTPCs and P cation doping strategy will open up a new opportunity for enhancing PEC performance of TiO₂-based photoelectrodes.

Keywords: TiO2 nanotube; phosphorus cation; photoelectrochemical water splitting; photonic crystal.