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A Water‐Splitting Carbon Nitride Photoelectrochemical Cell with Efficient Charge Separation and Remarkably Low Onset Potential
Author(s) -
Peng Guiming,
Albero Josep,
Garcia Hermenegildo,
Shalom Menny
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
angewandte chemie international edition
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 5.831
H-Index - 550
eISSN - 1521-3773
pISSN - 1433-7851
DOI - 10.1002/anie.201810225
Subject(s) - photocurrent , overpotential , materials science , water splitting , photoelectrochemical cell , carbon nitride , reversible hydrogen electrode , band gap , electrode , chemical engineering , nitride , crystallization , electrochemistry , optoelectronics , nanotechnology , chemistry , electrolyte , working electrode , catalysis , photocatalysis , biochemistry , layer (electronics) , engineering
A simple method to grow a closely packed carbon nitride (CN) film by the crystallization of CN monomers on a conductive substrate followed by a thermal condensation is reported. The as‐synthesized CN exhibits excellent performance as photoanode material in a photoelectrochemical cell. Detailed (photo)electrochemical and transient absorption measurements indicate excellent charge separation properties, high hole‐extraction efficiency (up to 50 %), a long electron lifetime, and low amount of defect states below the CN conduction band. Consequently, the CN photoanode exhibits a markedly low overpotential of 0.25 V versus reversible hydrogen electrode (RHE), which is comparable with the state‐of‐the‐art metal‐based photoanodes, an impressive photocurrent density of 116 μA cm −2 at 1.23 V versus RHE in an alkaline solution without sacrificial agent, as well as excellent stability over a wide pH range (0–13).