A Tantalum Nitride Photoanode Modified with a Hole-Storage Layer for Highly Stable Solar Water Splitting

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 mAcm(-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 semi-conductors against photocorrosion in solar water splitting.