Surface sulfurization activating hematite nanorods for efficient photoelectrochemical water splitting

Surface treatment is an effective method to improve the photoelectrochemical (PEC) performance of photoelectrodes. Herein, we introduced a novel strategy of surface sulfurization to modify hematite (alpha-Fe2O3) nanorods grown in an aqueous solution, which triggered encouraging improvement in PEC performances. In comparison to the solution-grown pristine alpha-Fe2O3 nanorod photoanode that is PEC inefficient and always needs high temperature (>600 degrees C) activation, the surface sulfurized alpha-Fe2O3 nanorods show photocurrent density increased by orders of magnitude, reaching 0.46 mA cm(-2) at 1.23 V vs. RHE (reversible hydrogen electrode) under simulated solar illumination. This improvement in PEC performances should be attributed to the synergy of the increased carrier density, the reduced surface charge carrier recombination and the accelerated water oxidation kinetics at the alpha-Fe2O3/electrolyte interface, as induced by the incorporation of S ions and the formation of multi-state S species (Fe-S-x-Oy) at the surface of alpha-Fe2O3 nanorods. This study paves a new and facile approach to activate alpha-Fe2O3 and even other metal oxides as photoelectrodes for improved PEC water splitting performances, by engineering the surface structure to relieve the bottlenecks of charge transfer dynamics and redox reaction kinetics at the electrode/electrolyte interface. (C) 2019 Science China Press. Published by Elsevier B.V. and Science China Press. All rights reserved.