Ultrathin FeOOH Nanolayers with Abundant Oxygen Vacancies on BiVO4 Photoanodes for Efficient Water Oxidation |
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| Authors: | Yajun Zhang Prof. Yong Ding Prof. Yingpu Bi |
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| Affiliation: | 1. State Key Laboratory for Oxo Synthesis and Selective Oxidation, National Engineering Research Center for Fine Petrochemical Intermediates, Lanzhou Institute of Chemical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Lanzhou, China;2. State Key Laboratory of Applied Organic Chemistry, Key Laboratory of Nonferrous Metals Chemistry and Resources Utilization of Gansu Province, and College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, China |
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| Abstract: | Photoelectrochemical (PEC) water splitting is a promising method for storing solar energy in the form of hydrogen fuel, but it is greatly hindered by the sluggish kinetics of the oxygen evolution reaction (OER). Herein, a facile solution impregnation method is developed for growing ultrathin (2 nm) highly crystalline β‐FeOOH nanolayers with abundant oxygen vacancies on BiVO4 photoanodes. These exhibited a remarkable photocurrent density of 4.3 mA cm?2 at 1.23 V (vs. reversible hydrogen electrode (RHE), AM 1.5 G), which is approximately two times higher than that of amorphous FeOOH fabricated by electrodeposition. Systematic studies reveal that the excellent PEC activity should be attributed to their ultrathin crystalline structure and abundant oxygen vacancies, which could effectively facilitate the hole transport/trapping and provide more active sites for water oxidation. |
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| Keywords: | FeOOH oxygen vacancies photoelectrochemistry solar water oxidation ultrathin layers |
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