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A Tantalum Nitride Photoanode Modified with a Hole‐Storage Layer for Highly Stable Solar Water Splitting
Author(s) -
Liu Guiji,
Shi Jingying,
Zhang Fuxiang,
Chen Zheng,
Han Jingfeng,
Ding Chunmei,
Chen Shanshan,
Wang Zhiliang,
Han Hongxian,
Li Can
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
angewandte chemie
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 1521-3757
pISSN - 0044-8249
DOI - 10.1002/ange.201404697
Subject(s) - tantalum nitride , water splitting , photocurrent , materials science , tantalum , nitride , solar fuel , optoelectronics , semiconductor , layer (electronics) , band gap , chemical engineering , nanotechnology , chemistry , photocatalysis , metallurgy , catalysis , biochemistry , engineering
Abstract Photoelectrochemical (PEC) water splitting is an ideal approach for renewable solar fuel production. One of the major problems is that narrow bandgap semiconductors, such as tantalum nitride, though possessing desirable band alignment for water splitting, suffer from poor photostability for water oxidation. For the first time it is shown that the presence of a ferrihydrite layer permits sustainable water oxidation at the tantalum nitride photoanode for at least 6 h with a benchmark photocurrent over 5 mA cm −2 , whereas the bare photoanode rapidly degrades within minutes. The remarkably enhanced photostability stems from the ferrihydrite, which acts as a hole‐storage layer. Furthermore, this work demonstrates that it can be a general strategy for protecting narrow bandgap semiconductors against photocorrosion in solar water splitting.