Issue 33, 2015

The rise of hematite: origin and strategies to reduce the high onset potential for the oxygen evolution reaction

Abstract

Hematite (α-Fe2O3) has emerged as a promising material for photoelectrochemical (PEC) water splitting thanks to its abundance, stability in an aqueous environment, favorable optical bandgap and position of the electronic valence band. Nevertheless, its performance as a photoanode is considerably lower than what is theoretically achievable. In particular, the high electrochemical potential usually needed to initiate water oxidation is detrimental to the prospect of using hematite for practical devices. In this review we elucidate the appealing, as well as the challenging, aspects of using hematite for PEC water splitting and focus on the recent efforts towards lowering the onset potential of water oxidation. We examine and rationalize several strategies pursued to achieve this goal involving manipulation of the hematite/electrolyte interface, as well as improving relevant properties of hematite itself.

Graphical abstract: The rise of hematite: origin and strategies to reduce the high onset potential for the oxygen evolution reaction

Article information

Article type
Review Article
Submitted
07 May 2015
Accepted
12 Jun 2015
First published
18 Jun 2015
This article is Open Access
Creative Commons BY-NC license

J. Mater. Chem. A, 2015,3, 16896-16912

Author version available

The rise of hematite: origin and strategies to reduce the high onset potential for the oxygen evolution reaction

B. Iandolo, B. Wickman, I. Zorić and A. Hellman, J. Mater. Chem. A, 2015, 3, 16896 DOI: 10.1039/C5TA03362D

This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 Unported Licence. You can use material from this article in other publications, without requesting further permission from the RSC, provided that the correct acknowledgement is given and it is not used for commercial purposes.

To request permission to reproduce material from this article in a commercial publication, please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

If you are an author contributing to an RSC publication, you do not need to request permission provided correct acknowledgement is given.

If you are the author of this article, you do not need to request permission to reproduce figures and diagrams provided correct acknowledgement is given. If you want to reproduce the whole article in a third-party commercial publication (excluding your thesis/dissertation for which permission is not required) please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

Read more about how to correctly acknowledge RSC content.

Social activity

Spotlight

Advertisements