Graphene–carbon nanotube composite as an effective conducting scaffold to enhance the photoelectrochemical water oxidation activity of a hematite film
- 8 August 2012
- journal article
- research article
- Published by Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC) in RSC Advances
- Vol. 2 (25), 9415-9422
- https://doi.org/10.1039/c2ra21169f
Abstract
The iron oxide photoanode was modified with a graphene–carbon nanotube (CNT) composite conducting scaffold for efficient charge transfer from Fe2O3 particles to transparent conducting oxide substrate in photoelectrochemical water splitting cells. The Fe2O3–composite photoanode showed a photocurrent increase of 530% compared with to the bare Fe2O3 photoanode at 1.23 V vs. RHE, while the increase was only 200 and 240% for Fe2O3–CNT and Fe2O3–graphene photoanodes, respectively. This remarkable performance enhancement by the composite scaffold was attributed to synergistic effects induced by the formation of a 3D-like architecture from 1D CNT and 2D graphene. They become a spacer for each other forming a more open and highly exposed structure, in which both 2D graphene and 1D CNT can exist in the forms with much less self-agglomeration, thus not only enlarging the contact area between the conducting scaffold and Fe2O3 particles but also recovering in part the intrinsic conducting ability of graphene and CNT.This publication has 28 references indexed in Scilit:
- Photoelectrochemical water splitting over ordered honeycomb hematite electrodes stabilized by alumina shieldingEnergy & Environmental Science, 2011
- Charge transfer in iron oxide photoanode modified with carbon nanotubes for photoelectrochemical water oxidation: An electrochemical impedance studyInternational Journal of Hydrogen Energy, 2011
- Photoelectrochemical Water Splitting with Mesoporous Hematite Prepared by a Solution-Based Colloidal ApproachJournal of the American Chemical Society, 2010
- Phase and photoelectrochemical behavior of solution-processed Fe2O3 nanocrystals for oxidation of water under solar lightApplied Physics Letters, 2008
- Pt-Doped α-Fe2O3 Thin Films Active for Photoelectrochemical Water SplittingChemistry of Materials, 2008
- Photoelectrochemistry of Stacked-Cup Carbon Nanotube Films. Tube-Length Dependence and Charge Transfer with Excited PorphyrinThe Journal of Physical Chemistry C, 2007
- Single Wall Carbon Nanotube Scaffolds for Photoelectrochemical Solar Cells. Capture and Transport of Photogenerated ElectronsNano Letters, 2007
- Translucent Thin Film Fe2O3 Photoanodes for Efficient Water Splitting by Sunlight: Nanostructure-Directing Effect of Si-DopingJournal of the American Chemical Society, 2006
- Photoelectrochemical Oxidation of Water at Transparent Ferric Oxide Film ElectrodesThe Journal of Physical Chemistry B, 2005
- Photoelectrochemical cellsNature, 2001