Stable Ta2O5 Overlayers on Hematite for Enhanced Photoelectrochemical Water Splitting Efficiencies



Forster, M ORCID: 0000-0002-8077-7690, Potter, RJ ORCID: 0000-0003-0896-4536, Yang, Y, Li, Y and Cowan, AJ ORCID: 0000-0001-9032-3548
(2018) Stable Ta2O5 Overlayers on Hematite for Enhanced Photoelectrochemical Water Splitting Efficiencies. ChemPhotoChem, 2 (3). pp. 183-189.

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Abstract

Hematite (α‐Fe2O3) is one of the most promising photoanodes for water oxidation, however the efficiencies of current hematite materials remain low. Surface trap states are often reported as one of the factors which limit the activity of hematite photoelectrodes, often leading to undesirable surface pinning and trap‐mediated recombination. The deposition of ultra‐thin Al2O3 overlayers is known to enhance hematite activity through passivation of surface states, however Al2O3 is rapidly degraded at normal hematite operating pH values (pH≈13). This study reports atomic layer deposition (ALD) of Ta2O5 thin films as stable, passivating overlayers on a range of hematite photoelectrodes and demonstrates that enhanced activity correlates with observed changes in trap‐state dynamics.

Item Type: Article
Uncontrolled Keywords: atomic layer deposition, hematite, photoelectrochemical water splitting, surface passivation, Ta2O5
Depositing User: Symplectic Admin
Date Deposited: 09 Nov 2017 07:59
Last Modified: 19 Jan 2023 06:50
DOI: 10.1002/cptc.201700156
Related URLs:
URI: https://livrepository.liverpool.ac.uk/id/eprint/3011778