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Revealing the relationship between photoelectrochemical performance and interface hole trapping in CuBi(2)O(4) heterojunction photoelectrodes

p-Type CuBi(2)O(4) is considered a promising metal oxide semiconductor for large-scale, economic solar water splitting due to the optimal band structure and low-cost fabrication. The main challenge in utilizing CuBi(2)O(4) as a photoelectrode for water splitting, is that it must be protected from ph...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Song, Angang, Levine, Igal, van de Krol, Roel, Dittrich, Thomas, Berglund, Sean P.
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: The Royal Society of Chemistry 2020
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8162275/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/34094360
http://dx.doi.org/10.1039/d0sc03030a
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author Song, Angang
Levine, Igal
van de Krol, Roel
Dittrich, Thomas
Berglund, Sean P.
author_facet Song, Angang
Levine, Igal
van de Krol, Roel
Dittrich, Thomas
Berglund, Sean P.
author_sort Song, Angang
collection PubMed
description p-Type CuBi(2)O(4) is considered a promising metal oxide semiconductor for large-scale, economic solar water splitting due to the optimal band structure and low-cost fabrication. The main challenge in utilizing CuBi(2)O(4) as a photoelectrode for water splitting, is that it must be protected from photo-corrosion in aqueous solutions, an inherent problem for Cu-based metal oxide photoelectrodes. In this work, several buffer layers (CdS, BiVO(4), and Ga(2)O(3)) were tested between CuBi(2)O(4) and conformal TiO(2) as the protection layer. RuO(x) was used as the co-catalyst for hydrogen evolution. Factors that limit the photoelectrochemical performance of the CuBi(2)O(4)/TiO(2)/RuO(x), CuBi(2)O(4)/CdS/TiO(2)/RuO(x), CuBi(2)O(4)/BiVO(4)/TiO(2)/RuO(x) and CuBi(2)O(4)/Ga(2)O(3)/TiO(2)/RuO(x) heterojunction photoelectrodes were revealed by comparing photocurrents, band offsets, and directed charge transfer measured by modulated surface photovoltage spectroscopy. For CuBi(2)O(4)/Ga(2)O(3)/TiO(2)/RuO(x) photoelectrodes, barriers for charge transfer strongly limited the performance. In CuBi(2)O(4)/CdS/TiO(2)/RuO(x), the absence of hole traps resulted in a relatively high photocurrent density and faradaic efficiency for hydrogen evolution despite the presence of pronounced deep defect states at the CuBi(2)O(4)/CdS interface. Hole trapping limited the performance moderately in CuBi(2)O(4)/BiVO(4)/TiO(2)/RuO(x) and strongly in CuBi(2)O(4)/TiO(2)/RuO(x) photoelectrodes. For the first time, our results show that hole trapping is a key factor that must be addressed to optimize the performance of CuBi(2)O(4)-based heterojunction photoelectrodes.
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spelling pubmed-81622752021-06-04 Revealing the relationship between photoelectrochemical performance and interface hole trapping in CuBi(2)O(4) heterojunction photoelectrodes Song, Angang Levine, Igal van de Krol, Roel Dittrich, Thomas Berglund, Sean P. Chem Sci Chemistry p-Type CuBi(2)O(4) is considered a promising metal oxide semiconductor for large-scale, economic solar water splitting due to the optimal band structure and low-cost fabrication. The main challenge in utilizing CuBi(2)O(4) as a photoelectrode for water splitting, is that it must be protected from photo-corrosion in aqueous solutions, an inherent problem for Cu-based metal oxide photoelectrodes. In this work, several buffer layers (CdS, BiVO(4), and Ga(2)O(3)) were tested between CuBi(2)O(4) and conformal TiO(2) as the protection layer. RuO(x) was used as the co-catalyst for hydrogen evolution. Factors that limit the photoelectrochemical performance of the CuBi(2)O(4)/TiO(2)/RuO(x), CuBi(2)O(4)/CdS/TiO(2)/RuO(x), CuBi(2)O(4)/BiVO(4)/TiO(2)/RuO(x) and CuBi(2)O(4)/Ga(2)O(3)/TiO(2)/RuO(x) heterojunction photoelectrodes were revealed by comparing photocurrents, band offsets, and directed charge transfer measured by modulated surface photovoltage spectroscopy. For CuBi(2)O(4)/Ga(2)O(3)/TiO(2)/RuO(x) photoelectrodes, barriers for charge transfer strongly limited the performance. In CuBi(2)O(4)/CdS/TiO(2)/RuO(x), the absence of hole traps resulted in a relatively high photocurrent density and faradaic efficiency for hydrogen evolution despite the presence of pronounced deep defect states at the CuBi(2)O(4)/CdS interface. Hole trapping limited the performance moderately in CuBi(2)O(4)/BiVO(4)/TiO(2)/RuO(x) and strongly in CuBi(2)O(4)/TiO(2)/RuO(x) photoelectrodes. For the first time, our results show that hole trapping is a key factor that must be addressed to optimize the performance of CuBi(2)O(4)-based heterojunction photoelectrodes. The Royal Society of Chemistry 2020-09-14 /pmc/articles/PMC8162275/ /pubmed/34094360 http://dx.doi.org/10.1039/d0sc03030a Text en This journal is © The Royal Society of Chemistry https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/
spellingShingle Chemistry
Song, Angang
Levine, Igal
van de Krol, Roel
Dittrich, Thomas
Berglund, Sean P.
Revealing the relationship between photoelectrochemical performance and interface hole trapping in CuBi(2)O(4) heterojunction photoelectrodes
title Revealing the relationship between photoelectrochemical performance and interface hole trapping in CuBi(2)O(4) heterojunction photoelectrodes
title_full Revealing the relationship between photoelectrochemical performance and interface hole trapping in CuBi(2)O(4) heterojunction photoelectrodes
title_fullStr Revealing the relationship between photoelectrochemical performance and interface hole trapping in CuBi(2)O(4) heterojunction photoelectrodes
title_full_unstemmed Revealing the relationship between photoelectrochemical performance and interface hole trapping in CuBi(2)O(4) heterojunction photoelectrodes
title_short Revealing the relationship between photoelectrochemical performance and interface hole trapping in CuBi(2)O(4) heterojunction photoelectrodes
title_sort revealing the relationship between photoelectrochemical performance and interface hole trapping in cubi(2)o(4) heterojunction photoelectrodes
topic Chemistry
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8162275/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/34094360
http://dx.doi.org/10.1039/d0sc03030a
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