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Enhanced Photoelectrochemical Hydrogen Evolution on CuBi2O4 Photocathode with Silver as Conductive Channels

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Abstract

CuBi2O4 is a promising p-type semiconductor material with a theoretical maximum current density of about 19.7 mA cm‒2. Although CuBi2O4 has a very high theoretical photocurrent, its poor charge transmission efficiency makes its actual photocurrent far less than its theoretical values. Herein, an in situ modification method is adopted to prepare a photocathode material with Ag as conductive channels. A metal–organic coating method is used to introduce Ag conductive channels, promoting the charge transmission between grains. Ag particles play the role of electrical connection, and improve the separation and transmission of carriers, so as to obtain enhanced photocurrent density.

Graphical Abstract

In situ formed Ag conductive channels significantly enhanced the PEC performance of CuBi2O4 photocathodes.

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Acknowledgements

This work is supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China (Nos. 22109059, 22206065), Natural Science Foundation of the Jiangsu Higher Education Institutions of China (No. 20KJB430025), Natural Science Foundation of Jiangsu Province (No. BK20221167), Jiangsu Innovation and Entrepreneurship Training Program for College Students (No. 202213573037Z), the Foundations Support from Jinling Institute of Technology (Nos. JIT-B-201833, JIT-FHXM-201920, JIT-B-201903).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Materials Engineering, Jinling Institute of Technology, Nanjing, 211169, People’s Republic of China

    Yingfei Hu, Xinyi Min, Yujia Qi, Wenyan Zhang, Yuanyuan Wang, Hangmin Guan & Lingyun Hao

  2. School of Materials Science and Engineering, Yancheng Institute of Technology, Yancheng, 224051, People’s Republic of China

    Chao Liu

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  1. Yingfei Hu
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Contributions

YH: Investigation, Data curation, Methodology, Formal analysis, Writing—original draft. XM: Data curation, Writing—review & editing. YQ: Data curation, Methodology, Formal analysis. WZ: Resources, Formal analysis. CL: Resources, Formal analysis. YW: Methodology, Formal analysis, Writing—original draft. HG: Resources, Formal analysis, Writing—review & editing. LH: Supervision, Formal analysis.

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Correspondence to Yuanyuan Wang or Hangmin Guan.

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Hu, Y., Min, X., Qi, Y. et al. Enhanced Photoelectrochemical Hydrogen Evolution on CuBi2O4 Photocathode with Silver as Conductive Channels. Catal Lett 154, 34–41 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10562-023-04292-4

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