Wang, Hongxia, Wang, Yan, Lin, Yumei et al. (7 more authors) (2023) Impact of NiCo2O4/SrTiO3 p–n Heterojunctions on the Interface of Photoelectrochemical Water Oxidation. ACS applied materials & interfaces. pp. 28739-28746. ISSN 1944-8252
Abstract
Forming semiconductor heterojunctions is a promising strategy to boost the efficiency of solar-driven photoelectrochemical (PEC) water splitting by accelerating the separation and transport of photogenerated charge carriers via an interfacial electric field. However, there is limited research considering the influence of electrolytes on the band alignment of the heterojunction under PEC conditions. In this work, we use a single crystal NiCo 2O 4/SrTiO 3 (NCO/STO) heterojunction with atomic-precision controlled thickness as a model photoelectrode to study the band structure modulations upon getting in contact with the electrolyte and the correlation with the PEC activity. It is found that the band alignment can be tuned by the control of p-n heterojunction film thickness and regulated by the water redox potential ( E redox). When the Fermi level ( E F) of the heterojunction is higher/lower than the E redox, the band bending at the NCO/STO-electrolyte interface will increase/decrease after contacting with the electrolyte. However, when the band bending width of the NCO layer is thinner than its thickness, the electrolyte will not influence the band alignment at the NCO/STO interface. In addition, PEC characterization results show that the 1 nm NCO/STO heterojunction photoanode exhibits superior water-splitting performance, owing to the optimum band structure of the p-n heterojunction and the shorter charge transfer distance.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © 2023 American Chemical Society. This is an author-produced version of the published paper. Uploaded in accordance with the publisher’s self-archiving policy. Further copying may not be permitted; contact the publisher for details |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of York |
Academic Units: | The University of York > Faculty of Sciences (York) > Mathematics (York) The University of York > Faculty of Sciences (York) > Physics (York) The University of York > Faculty of Sciences (York) > Chemistry (York) |
Depositing User: | Pure (York) |
Date Deposited: | 14 Jul 2023 15:50 |
Last Modified: | 16 Oct 2024 19:15 |
Published Version: | https://doi.org/10.1021/acsami.3c02783 |
Status: | Published |
Refereed: | Yes |
Identification Number: | 10.1021/acsami.3c02783 |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:201565 |
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Filename: Manuscript_of_NCO_STO_heterojunction.docx
Description: Impact of NiCo2O4/SrTiO3 p–n Heterojunctions on the Interface of Photoelectrochemical Water Oxidation
Filename: Supporting_Information_of_NCO_STO_heterojunction.docx
Description: Supporting Information of NCO_STO heterojunction