Cobalt-Phosphate-Assisted Photoelectrochemical Water Oxidation by Arrays of Molybdenum-Doped Zinc Oxide Nanorods
Journal
ChemSusChem
Journal Volume
7
Journal Issue
9
Pages
2748-2754
Date Issued
2014
Author(s)
Abstract
We report the first demonstration of cobalt phosphate (Co-Pi)-assisted molybdenum-doped zinc oxide nanorods (Zn1−xMoxO NRs) as visible-light-sensitive photofunctional electrodes to fundamentally improve the performance of ZnO NRs for photoelectrochemical (PEC) water splitting. A maximum photoconversion efficiency as high as 1.05 % was achieved, at a photocurrent density of 1.4 mA cm−2. More importantly, in addition to achieve the maximum incident photon to current conversion efficiency (IPCE) value of 86 %, it could be noted that the IPCE of Zn1−xMoxO photoanodes under monochromatic illumination (450 nm) is up to 12 %. Our PEC performances are comparable to those of many oxide-based photoanodes in recent reports. The improvement in photoactivity of PEC water splitting may be attributed to the enhanced visible-light absorption, increased charge-carrier densities, and improved interfacial charge-transfer kinetics due to the combined effect of molybdenum incorporation and Co-Pi modification, contributing to photocatalysis. The new design of constructing highly photoactive Co-Pi-assisted Zn1−xMoxO photoanodes enriches knowledge on doping and advances the development of high-efficiency photoelectrodes in the solar-hydrogen field. © 2014 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim
Subjects
doping; molybdenum; photocatalysis; water splitting; zinc oxides
Other Subjects
Charge transfer; Doping (additives); Efficiency; II-VI semiconductors; Light; Light absorption; Molybdenum; Molybdenum oxide; Nanorods; Oxide minerals; Photocatalysis; Photoelectrochemical cells; Solar power generation; Water absorption; Zinc oxide; Incident photon-to-current conversion efficiencies; Interfacial charge transfer; Monochromatic illumination; Photoconversion efficiency; Photoelectrochemical water oxidation; Photoelectrochemicals; Visible light absorption; Water splitting; Cobalt compounds
Publisher
Wiley-VCH Verlag
Type
journal article