Issue 8, 2016

TiO2/graphene/NiFe-layered double hydroxide nanorod array photoanodes for efficient photoelectrochemical water splitting

Abstract

The ever-increasing demand for renewable and clean power sources has triggered the development of novel materials for photoelectrochemical (PEC) water splitting, but how to improve the solar conversion efficiency remains a big challenge. In this work, we report a conceptual strategy in a ternary material system to simultaneously enhance the charge separation and water oxidation efficiency of photoanodes by introducing reduced graphite oxide (rGO) and NiFe-layered double hydroxide (LDH) on TiO2 nanorod arrays (NAs). An experimental–computational combination study reveals that rGO with a high work function and superior electron mobility accepts photogenerated electrons from TiO2 and enables fast electron transportation; while NiFe-LDH acts as a cocatalyst which accelerates the surface water oxidation reaction. This synergistic effect in this ternary TiO2/rGO/NiFe-LDH photoanode gives rise to a largely enhanced photoconversion efficiency (0.58% at 0.13 V) and photocurrent density (1.74 mA cm−2 at 0.6 V). It is worth mentioning that the photocurrent density of TiO2/rGO/NiFe-LDH, to the best of our knowledge, is superior to previously reported TiO2-based photoanodes in benign and neutral media. In addition, the method presented here can be extended to the preparation of other efficient photoanodes (WO3/rGO/NiFe-LDH and α-Fe2O3/rGO/NiFe-LDH) toward high level PEC performance.

Graphical abstract: TiO2/graphene/NiFe-layered double hydroxide nanorod array photoanodes for efficient photoelectrochemical water splitting

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
13 Apr 2016
Accepted
04 Jul 2016
First published
05 Jul 2016

Energy Environ. Sci., 2016,9, 2633-2643

TiO2/graphene/NiFe-layered double hydroxide nanorod array photoanodes for efficient photoelectrochemical water splitting

F. Ning, M. Shao, S. Xu, Y. Fu, R. Zhang, M. Wei, D. G. Evans and X. Duan, Energy Environ. Sci., 2016, 9, 2633 DOI: 10.1039/C6EE01092J

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