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Surface modification of NiCdO barrier layer in complex photoanodes and TiO2 protective coating for efficient and stabile water dissociation

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Abstract

This work presents a follow-up research of our previously published work. Herein, the photocatalytic performance of a nanostructured CdZnO/NiCdO composite photoanode has been improved by intercalation of Cu catalyst atoms in the electron barrier layer of NiyCd1−yO surface by an ion exchange process. As a result, the photocurrent yield increased by 29 % at +1 V potential against Ag/AgCl. This phenomenon was tentatively attributed to the increased electron concentration and/or interaction of the Cu3d electrons with the mid-energy valence electrons. To the contrary, the introduction of Ag, Co, and Ni deteriorated the photocatalytic performance. The corrosion challenges were assessed during 50 cycles of voltammetry. The background of the degradation/photocorrosion was studied with SEM, EDX, and XPS analysis. To combat the photocorrosion, the photoanodes were coated with TiO2 protective nanolayers of different thickness. The results for the photocurrent stability at a constant potential of +1 V showed that 9 nm TiO2 coating improved the durability of the photoanode on account of a photocurrent decrease for about 50 %. XPS studies proved that the degradation/corrosion changes on the photoanode’s surface could be associated with an irreversible electrochemical oxidation of CdO into CdO2.

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Acknowledgments

This work was performed at the EMAT, LBNL and was supported by the Director, Office of Science, Office of Basic Energy Sciences, Materials Sciences, and Engineering Division of the U.S. Department of Energy under Contract No. DE-AC02-05CH11231. Dr. Ristova kindly expresses her gratitude to the Fulbright Visiting Scholar Program at the US Department of State for supporting her stay/research at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Grant No. 68130116 during entire 2014. We kindly thank Wei Zhu for RF sputtering of the profiles, Francesca M. Toma for the XPS spectra and Douglas Detert for our fruitful discussions, all affiliated to LBNL 2014.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Solar Energy Materials Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, 1 Cyclotron Road, B2, Berkeley, CA, 94 720, USA

    Mimoza M. Ristova & Kin Man Yu

  2. Institute of Physics, Faculty of Natural Sciences and Mathematics, Arhimedova 10, University in Skopje, 1000, Skopje, Republic of Macedonia

    Mimoza M. Ristova

  3. Department of Physics and Materials Science, City University of Hong Kong, Kowloon Tong, Hong Kong

    Kin Man Yu

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  1. Mimoza M. Ristova
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Correspondence to Mimoza M. Ristova.

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Ristova, M.M., Yu, K.M. Surface modification of NiCdO barrier layer in complex photoanodes and TiO2 protective coating for efficient and stabile water dissociation. J Solid State Electrochem 21, 803–812 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10008-016-3398-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10008-016-3398-x

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