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Enhancing the Photoelectrochemical Performance of a Hematite Dendrite/Graphitic Carbon Nitride Nanocomposite through Surface Modification with CoFeO x
Author(s) -
Bhandary Nimai,
Singh Aadesh P.,
Ingole Pravin P.,
Basu Suddhasatwa
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
chemphotochem
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.13
H-Index - 18
ISSN - 2367-0932
DOI - 10.1002/cptc.201600008
Subject(s) - water splitting , graphitic carbon nitride , linear sweep voltammetry , hematite , materials science , photocurrent , raman spectroscopy , nanocomposite , photocatalysis , chemical engineering , nitride , photoelectrochemistry , analytical chemistry (journal) , cyclic voltammetry , nanotechnology , electrode , electrochemistry , chemistry , optoelectronics , catalysis , optics , metallurgy , physics , engineering , layer (electronics) , chromatography , biochemistry
In this article, we report the surface modification of a hematite dendrite/graphitic carbon nitride composite (HD/g‐CN) with an oxygen evolution catalyst (OER), specifically CoFeO x , to achieve enhanced photoelectrochemical (PEC) water splitting under visible‐light irradiation. Such modified hematite dendrites are studied for the first time for PEC water splitting and demonstrate higher activity compared to unmodified composites. The synthesized composites are characterized by X‐ray diffraction spectroscopy, Raman spectroscopy, field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM) and elemental dispersive analysis (EDX). The photoelectrochemical performance was studied by linear sweep voltammetry (LSV) under visible‐light irradiation. The photoelectrochemical characterization reveals that the CoFeO x /HD/g‐CN composite shows a maximum photocurrent density of 0.60 mA cm −2 at 1.23 V versus RHE (reversible hydrogen electrode), which is comparable to the best reported value of hematite. A Mott–Schottky analysis demonstrates the formation of a p–n heterojunction of CoFeO x with the HD/g‐CN composite which is responsible for the enhanced PEC activity as a result of efficient separation of photogenerated electron–hole pairs.