Work

The Role of Cobalt Phosphate in Enhancing the Photocatalytic Activity of α-Fe2O3 toward Water Oxidation

Year: 2011

Type: article

Abstract: Transient absorption spectroscopy was used to probe the dynamics of photogenerated charge carriers in α-Fe(2)O(3)/CoO(x) nanocomposite photoelectrodes for water splitting. The addition of cobalt-based electrocatalysts was observed to increase the lifetime of photogenerated holes in the photoelectrode by more than 3 orders of magnitude without the application of electrical bias. We therefore propose that the enhanced photoelectrochemical activity of the composite electrode for water photooxidation results, at least in part, from reduced recombination losses because of the formation of a Schottky-type heterojunction.

Source: Journal of the American Chemical Society

DOI: 10.1021/ja205325v

Authors: Monica Barroso, Alexander J. Cowan, Stephanie R. Pendlebury, Michael Grätzel, David R. Klug, James R. Durrant

Institutions: Imperial College London, École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne

Language: English

Topic: Iron oxide chemistry and applications

Subfield: Materials Chemistry

Field: Materials Science

Domain: Physical Sciences

SDG: Affordable and clean energy

Open Access status: green

Funder: Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council