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MoOx layer with abundant oxygen vacancies modified on Sn-doped α-Fe2O3 film for enhanced photoelectrochemical water oxidation performance

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Abstract

The photoelectrochemical (PEC) water oxidation performance of α-Fe2O3 photoanode can be improved by constructing proper heterojunction to promote photo-induced carrier separation and interfacial charge transfer. Here, an optimized MoOx layer with abundant oxygen vacancies was modified on Sn doped α-Fe2O3 film by simple spin coating and thermal reduction method to form a heterojunction with enhanced PEC performance. XPS results suggest that increased oxygen vacancy concentration in MoOx layers can be achieved by post annealing the samples in N2. PEC tests of the prepared photoanodes revealed that the optimal N2-annealed MoOx/Sn-Fe2O3 photoanode with abundant oxygen vacancies possesses the best photocurrent density (1.88 mA/cm2 at 1.23 V vs RHE), which is up to 1.84 and 8.17 times compared with Sn-Fe2O3 and pristine Fe2O3, respectively. The improved PEC performance can be attributed to the enhanced band bending and built-in electric field after increasing the oxygen vacancy concentration in MoOx, which promoted the carrier separation and transfer. This work demonstrates that constructing heterojunction using a MoOx layer with abundant oxygen vacancies is an effective approach to enhance the PEC performance of α-Fe2O3 photoanode.

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Data availability

The datasets generated during and/or analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

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Acknowledgements

We acknowledge the financial support from the Project supported by the Research Foundation of Education Bureau of Hunan Province, China (Grant Nos. 21C0081, 22A0121, and 22B0157).

Funding

Funding was provided by Scientific Research Foundation of Hunan Provincial Education Department (Grant nos. 21C0081, 22A0121, 22B0157).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Physics and Optoelectronics, Xiangtan University, Xiangtan, 411105, Hunan, People’s Republic of China

    Tao Pang, Peng Guo, Yequan Xiao, Hongxing Li & Rong Mo

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  1. Tao Pang
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  2. Peng Guo
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  3. Yequan Xiao
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  4. Hongxing Li
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Contributions

TP: conceptualization, methodology, results analysis, draft writing and editing. PG: methodology, results analysis, draft editing and reviewing. YX: conceptualization and supervising. HL: conceptualization, supervising and draft reviewing. RM: supervising and draft reviewing. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

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Correspondence to Rong Mo.

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Pang, T., Guo, P., Xiao, Y. et al. MoOx layer with abundant oxygen vacancies modified on Sn-doped α-Fe2O3 film for enhanced photoelectrochemical water oxidation performance. J Mater Sci: Mater Electron 34, 1113 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10854-023-10519-2

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