Single-atomic-site platinum steers photogenerated charge carrier lifetime of hematite nanoflakes for photoelectrochemical water splitting

Rui-Ting Gao, Jiangwei Zhang, Tomohiko Nakajima, Jinlu He (), Xianhu Liu, Xueyuan Zhang, Lei Wang () and Limin Wu ()
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Rui-Ting Gao: Inner Mongolia University
Jiangwei Zhang: Inner Mongolia University
Tomohiko Nakajima: National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology
Jinlu He: Inner Mongolia University
Xianhu Liu: Zhengzhou University
Xueyuan Zhang: Hunan University
Lei Wang: Inner Mongolia University
Limin Wu: Inner Mongolia University

Nature Communications, 2023, vol. 14, issue 1, 1-12

Abstract: Abstract Although much effort has been devoted to improving photoelectrochemical water splitting of hematite (α-Fe2O3) due to its high theoretical solar-to-hydrogen conversion efficiency of 15.5%, the low applied bias photon-to-current efficiency remains a huge challenge for practical applications. Herein, we introduce single platinum atom sites coordination with oxygen atom (Pt-O/Pt-O-Fe) sites into single crystalline α-Fe2O3 nanoflakes photoanodes (SAs Pt:Fe2O3-Ov). The single-atom Pt doping of α-Fe2O3 can induce few electron trapping sites, enhance carrier separation capability, and boost charge transfer lifetime in the bulk structure as well as improve charge carrier injection efficiency at the semiconductor/electrolyte interface. Further introduction of surface oxygen vacancies can suppress charge carrier recombination and promote surface reaction kinetics, especially at low potential. Accordingly, the optimum SAs Pt:Fe2O3-Ov photoanode exhibits the photoelectrochemical performance of 3.65 and 5.30 mA cm−2 at 1.23 and 1.5 VRHE, respectively, with an applied bias photon-to-current efficiency of 0.68% for the hematite-based photoanodes. This study opens an avenue for designing highly efficient atomic-level engineering on single crystalline semiconductors for feasible photoelectrochemical applications.

Date: 2023
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DOI: 10.1038/s41467-023-38343-6

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