Facile synthesis of CoOx@C/Ti-Fe2O3 photoanodes for efficient photoelectrochemical water oxidation

Hongda Li; Kaikai Ba; Kai Zhang; Yanhong Lin; Wanchun Zhu; Tengfeng Xie

doi:10.1039/d3dt03391k

Facile synthesis of CoO_x@C/Ti-Fe₂O₃ photoanodes for efficient photoelectrochemical water oxidation

Dalton Trans. 2023 Dec 19;53(1):115-122. doi: 10.1039/d3dt03391k.

Authors

Hongda Li¹, Kaikai Ba¹, Kai Zhang¹, Yanhong Lin¹, Wanchun Zhu¹, Tengfeng Xie¹

Affiliation

¹ College of Chemistry, Jilin University, Changchun, 130012, P. R. China.

PMID: 38050724
DOI: 10.1039/d3dt03391k

Abstract

The development of photoelectrochemical (PEC) water splitting is hindered by the slow kinetics of four-electron processes for the oxygen evolution reaction (OER) and severe charge recombination. Amorphous carbon was chosen as a carrier for the active sites due to its exceptional conductivity and strong loading capacity. In addition, this enhanced performance was attributed to the loading of oxides of cobalt. Here, amorphous carbon-covered cobalt oxides chosen as a co-catalyst loaded on α-Fe₂O₃ (noted as CoO_x@C/Ti-Fe₂O₃) have been synthesized, and they show a high current density (2.86 mA cm^-2 under 1.23 V vs. RHE), and a low onset potential (0.611 V vs. RHE). Experimental analysis demonstrates that the charge transfer and separation leading to accelerated OER dynamics and improved PEC performance are enhanced by CoO_x@C effectively. This study provides new ideas for designing high-performance photoelectrochemical electrodes based on amorphous carbon co-catalysts.