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Incorporation of Sulfate Anions and Sulfur Vacancies in ZnIn 2 S 4 Photoanode for Enhanced Photoelectrochemical Water Splitting
Author(s) -
Xu Weiwei,
Gao Wenchao,
Meng Linxing,
Tian Wei,
Li Liang
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
advanced energy materials
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 10.08
H-Index - 220
eISSN - 1614-6840
pISSN - 1614-6832
DOI - 10.1002/aenm.202101181
Subject(s) - photocurrent , water splitting , materials science , reversible hydrogen electrode , sulfur , sulfate , kinetics , density functional theory , oxygen evolution , chemical engineering , charge carrier , inorganic chemistry , electrode , chemical physics , catalysis , electrochemistry , optoelectronics , chemistry , photocatalysis , computational chemistry , working electrode , biochemistry , physics , quantum mechanics , engineering , metallurgy
Severe charge recombination and slow surface water oxidation kinetics seriously limit the practical application of ZnIn 2 S 4 photoanodes for photoelectrochemical water splitting. Herein, an in situ strategy to introduce sulfate (SO 4 2− ) anions and controlled bulk sulfur vacancies (S v ) into a ZnIn 2 S 4 photoanode is developed, and its PEC performance is remarkably enhanced, achieving a photocurrent density of 3.52 mA cm −2 at 1.23 V versus reversible hydrogen electrode ( V RHE ) and negatively shifted onset potential of 0.01 V RHE in phosphate buffer without a sacrificial agent under AM 1.5G illumination. The experimental characterizations and density functional theory calculations reveal that the SO 4 2− groups enhance the oxygen evolution reaction kinetics, while bulk S v improves the bulk carrier separation. The remarkable bulk carrier separation efficiency of 75.01% and surface carrier injection efficiency of 79.69% are achieved at 1.23 V RHE . This work provides a new route to design efficient photoanodes by the simultaneous manipulation of metal‐free anions and sulfur vacancies.