IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/nat/natcom/v5y2014i1d10.1038_ncomms6122.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Aligned Fe2TiO5-containing nanotube arrays with low onset potential for visible-light water oxidation

Author

Listed:
  • Qinghua Liu

    (National Synchrotron Radiation Laboratory, University of Science and Technology of China)

  • Jingfu He

    (National Synchrotron Radiation Laboratory, University of Science and Technology of China
    Hefei National Laboratory for Physical Sciences at Microscale, University of Science and Technology of China)

  • Tao Yao

    (National Synchrotron Radiation Laboratory, University of Science and Technology of China)

  • Zhihu Sun

    (National Synchrotron Radiation Laboratory, University of Science and Technology of China)

  • Weiren Cheng

    (National Synchrotron Radiation Laboratory, University of Science and Technology of China)

  • Shi He

    (Hefei National Laboratory for Physical Sciences at Microscale, University of Science and Technology of China)

  • Yi Xie

    (Hefei National Laboratory for Physical Sciences at Microscale, University of Science and Technology of China)

  • Yanhua Peng

    (National Synchrotron Radiation Laboratory, University of Science and Technology of China)

  • Hao Cheng

    (National Synchrotron Radiation Laboratory, University of Science and Technology of China)

  • Yongfu Sun

    (Hefei National Laboratory for Physical Sciences at Microscale, University of Science and Technology of China)

  • Yong Jiang

    (National Synchrotron Radiation Laboratory, University of Science and Technology of China)

  • Fengchun Hu

    (National Synchrotron Radiation Laboratory, University of Science and Technology of China)

  • Zhi Xie

    (National Synchrotron Radiation Laboratory, University of Science and Technology of China)

  • Wensheng Yan

    (National Synchrotron Radiation Laboratory, University of Science and Technology of China)

  • Zhiyun Pan

    (National Synchrotron Radiation Laboratory, University of Science and Technology of China)

  • Ziyu Wu

    (National Synchrotron Radiation Laboratory, University of Science and Technology of China)

  • Shiqiang Wei

    (National Synchrotron Radiation Laboratory, University of Science and Technology of China)

Abstract

There remains a pressing challenge in the efficient utilization of visible light in the photoelectrochemical applications of water splitting. Here, we design and fabricate pseudobrookite Fe2TiO5 ultrathin layers grown on vertically aligned TiO2 nanotube arrays that can enhance the conduction and utilization of photogenerated charge carriers. Our photoanodes are characterized by low onset potentials of ~0.2 V, high photon-to-current efficiencies of 40–50% under 400–600 nm irradiation and total energy conversion efficiencies of ~2.7%. The high performance of Fe2TiO5 nanotube arrays can be attributed to the anisotropic charge carrier transportation and elongated charge carrier diffusion length (compared with those of conventional TiO2 or Fe2O3 photoanodes) based on electrochemical impedance analysis and first-principles calculations. The Fe2TiO5 nanotube arrays may open up more opportunities in the design of efficient and low-cost photoanodes working in visible light for photoelectrochemical applications.

Suggested Citation

  • Qinghua Liu & Jingfu He & Tao Yao & Zhihu Sun & Weiren Cheng & Shi He & Yi Xie & Yanhua Peng & Hao Cheng & Yongfu Sun & Yong Jiang & Fengchun Hu & Zhi Xie & Wensheng Yan & Zhiyun Pan & Ziyu Wu & Shiqi, 2014. "Aligned Fe2TiO5-containing nanotube arrays with low onset potential for visible-light water oxidation," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 5(1), pages 1-7, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:natcom:v:5:y:2014:i:1:d:10.1038_ncomms6122
    DOI: 10.1038/ncomms6122
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.nature.com/articles/ncomms6122
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1038/ncomms6122?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:nat:natcom:v:5:y:2014:i:1:d:10.1038_ncomms6122. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.nature.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.