Engineering the heterogeneous interfaces of inverse opals to boost charge transfer for efficient solar water splitting

Abstract

Herein, we report a three-dimensional porous TiO 2 /Fe 2 TiO 5 /Fe 2 O 3 (TFF) inverse opal through in situ thermal solid reactions for photoelectrochemical water splitting. The Fe 2 TiO 5 interfacial layer within TFF acting as a bridge to tightly connect to TiO 2 and Fe 2 O 3 reduces the interfacial charge transfer resistance, and suppresses the bulk carrier recombination. The optimized TFF displays a remarkable photocurrent density of 0.54 mA cm −2 at 1.23 V vs. reversible hydrogen electrode (RHE), which is 25 times higher than that of TiO 2 /Fe 2 O 3 (TF) inverse opal (0.02 mA cm −2 at 1.23 V vs. RHE). The charge transfer rate in TFF inverse opal is 2-8 times higher than that of TF in the potential range of 0.7 −1.5 V vs. RHE. The effects of the Fe 2 TiO 5 interfacial layer are further revealed by X-ray absorption spectroscopy and intensity-modulated photocurrent spectroscopy. This work offers an interfacial engineering protocol to improve charge separation and transfer for efficient solar water splitting.

0D/2D CsPbBr3 Nanocrystal/BiOCl Nanoplate Heterostructure with Enhanced Photocatalytic Performance

“…Hence, the result illustrates that the coupling CsPbBr 3 with BiOCl NPs to fabricate the CsPbBr 3 /BiOCl heterojunction is beneficial for the enhancement of photocatalytic activity. [ 36,37 ]…”

Regulating the Charge Migration in CuInSe2/N‐Doped Carbon Nanorod Arrays via Interfacial Engineering for Boosting Photoelectrochemical Water Splitting

“…[ 16,17 ] We also have reported that engineering the heterogeneous interfaces via in‐situ reaction protocols could largely decrease the phase boundary thermal resistance for the migration and separation of electron and holes. [ 18,19 ] To this end, constructing carbon continuous distribution in CISe with intimate interfacial contact might be an effective approach to regulate the charge spontaneous migration and separation for highly efficient PEC water splitting.…”

Synthesis of uniformly dispersed Fe2TiO5 nanodisks: a sensitive photoelectrochemical sensor for glucose monitoring in human blood serum

“…20 It is known that iron titanate (Fe 2 TiO 5 ), a stoichiometric hybrid of Fe 2 O 3 and TiO 2 , consists of an orthogonal lattice of earth-rich elements, 21 with two cations located in different octahedral positions. 22 Fe 2 TiO 5 is an n-type semiconductor with a narrow band gap of about 1.9–2.1 eV, 23–25 which is considered as a promising artificial photocatalyst for photosynthesis. Fe 2 TiO 5 is an inorganic photocatalyst with the advantages of high efficiency, simple operation, good repeatability and easy operation.…”

“…Fe 2 TiO 5 and its related composites have been widely used in photoelectrochemical water splitting, photocatalytic degradation, NO 3 − reduction reaction, water treatment, solar cells and lithium-ion capacitors. 25–31 However, Fe 2 TiO 5 and its related composites are rarely used in the field of analysis and detection, especially as a photoelectrocatalyst for the quantitative detection of glucose.…”