Enhancing the solar water splitting activity of TiO2 nanotube-array photoanode by surface coating with La-doped SrTiO3

Abstract Photoelectrochemical water splitting has been considered one of the most promising alternatives for the substitution of fossil fuels with a clean and renewable fuel, such as H2. Two of the most studied photocatalysts for such application are titanium dioxide and strontium titanate due to their favourable photoactivity, robustness and availability; although specific limitations have hindered their large-scale implementations. In this investigation, we produced photoanodes comprising heterojunctions of TiO2 nanotubes and lanthanum-doped SrTiO3 for the photoelectrochemical split of water, under simulated solar irradiation. A thin layer of SrTiO3 formed on the surface of TiO2 nanotubes through a hydrothermal route was effective in promoting the electron-hole separation at the interface, leading to a photocurrent density enhancement from 58.9 to 109.4 μA cm−2 (at 1.23 V vs RHE). The charge transfer resistance at the solid/liquid interface was substantially reduced, according to electrochemical impedance spectroscopy measurements. Further photoactivity increase was achieved by doping the SrTiO3 overlayer with La3+. This is the first time the application of such La:SrTiO3/TiO2 nanocomposite in sustainable energy production is reported. The doping with 10 mol% of La3+ into the Sr2+ sites enhanced the photoelectrochemical response to 144.2 μA cm−2 (1.23 V vs RHE) due to the suppression of deep trapping states related to formed SrO species.

• Publication year

  2020

• Venue

  Solar Energy Materials and Solar Cells

• Publication date

  2020-05-01

• Fields of study

  Materials Science, Chemistry, Engineering, Environmental Science

• Identifiers
  DOI 10.1016/j.solmat.2020.110428
• External record

  Open on Semantic Scholar

• Source metadata

  Semantic Scholar

• No claims are published for this paper.

• No concepts are published for this paper.

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