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Synthesis of TiO2/LaFeO3 composites for the photoelectrochemical hydrogen evolution

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Abstract

Developing highly active catalysts for hydrogen evolution reaction is vital for large-scale and efficient production of hydrogen through water splitting. In this study, we reported scale-up TiO2/LaFeO3 composite catalysts with multiple heterojunctions synthesized via facile solid-phase reaction and investigated their hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) performance in both acidic and alkaline solutions. To be excited, under AM1.5 simulated sunlight irradiation, the working electrode decorated by TiO2/LaFeO3 presents a higher current density with 10 mV/cm2 at 0.55 V in a 0.5 M H2SO4 solution, suppressing the corresponding performance with the occasion of pure electrocatalysis. Importantly, the hydrogen evolution efficiency can reach 7.62 mmol h−1 cm−2, overwhelming approximately 5.3 times higher than that of commercial P25 (1.43 mmol h−1 cm−2) with exceptional stability via imposing simulated sunlight and a bias of 500 mV. Therefore, such excellent catalysts could serve as an alternative to reach remarkable HER performance via fossil fuels free technology, potentially making contribution toward the goal of global “carbon neutral” by 2050.

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The authors declare that the data supporting the findings of this study are available within the article and its Supplementary Information files.

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Acknowledgements

This work was financially supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (51702371, 21707023), High-level Talent Gathering Project in Hunan Province (2019RS1059), Provincial Key Research and Development Plan of Hunan Province (2018SK2034) and New Faculty Start-Up Funding from Xiangtan University (18QDZ16). We also appreciated Dr. Jian Shen for the contribution to this work.

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  1. Yunhong Jiang and Qi Lv have contributed equally.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Rheological Mechanics, Xiangtan University, Xiangtan, 411105, Hunan, China

    Yunhong Jiang, Fu Xu, Xing Sun & Yanhuai Ding

  2. Beijing Synchrotron Radiation Facility, Institute of High Energy Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China

    Qi Lv

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  1. Yunhong Jiang
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Y.H.Jiang and Q.Lv had contributed to investigation and Methodology; X.Sun carried out formal analysis; and Y.H.Ding and F.Xu took part in conceptualization, writing, reviewing and editing.

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Correspondence to Yanhuai Ding.

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Jiang, Y., Lv, Q., Xu, F. et al. Synthesis of TiO2/LaFeO3 composites for the photoelectrochemical hydrogen evolution. J Mater Sci 56, 15188–15204 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10853-021-06188-3

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