Rapid Flame-Annealed CuFe2O4 as Efficient Photocathode for Photoelectrochemical Hydrogen Production
Abstract
Copper ferrite (CuFe2O4) possesses an indirect bandgap in the range of 1.54–1.95 eV. It is used as an attractive p-type photocathode in photoelectrochemical (PEC) water splitting, and theoretically it can yield a maximum photocurrent density of ~27 mA/cm2 and a maximum solar-to-hydrogen conversion efficiency of ~33%. To date, only a few reports have been published on CuFe2O4 photocathodes with very low-photocurrent densities, with a maximum value of 0.4 mA/cm2 at 0.4 V vs RHE. Herein, we prepared a CuFe2O4 photocathode on FTO glass with the sol–gel method followed by either high-temperature flame annealing or furnace annealing. We found that the flame-annealed CuFe2O4 photocathode generated a photocurrent density of 1.82 mA/cm2 at 0.4 V vs RHE that is approximately 3.5 times higher than the furnace-annealed CuFe2O4 (0.52 mA/cm2). This photocurrent density is also higher than those of all the reported CuFe2O4 photocathodes, and any Cu containing ternary oxide (Cu–M–O, M: Fe, Bi, V, and Nb) photocathode (0.1–1.3 mA/cm2 at 0.4 V vs RHE). An improved PEC performance of the flame-annealed CuFe2O4 photocathode is elicited owing to the beneficial effects of flame annealing on the physical, optical, and electrical properties of CuFe2O4. Flame annealing enhances the light absorption property of the CuFe2O4more »
- Authors:
-
[1];
[3];
[6];
[3];
[4];
[1]
- Stanford Univ., Stanford, CA (United States)
- Stanford Univ., Stanford, CA (United States); Sungkyunkwan Univ., Suwon (Republic of Korea)
- Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)
- Sungkyunkwan Univ., Suwon (Republic of Korea)
- SLAC National Accelerator Lab., Menlo Park, CA (United States)
- Ajou Univ., Suwon (Republic of Korea)
- Publication Date:
- Research Org.:
- SLAC National Accelerator Lab., Menlo Park, CA (United States); Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)
- Sponsoring Org.:
- USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES); National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF); Global Frontier R&D Program of the Center for Multiscale Energy System; Creative Materials Discovery Program
- OSTI Identifier:
- 1529088
- Alternate Identifier(s):
- OSTI ID: 1656504
- Grant/Contract Number:
- AC02-76SF00515; 2016M3D1A1027664; 2017R1A2B3010927; 2012M3A6A7054855
- Resource Type:
- Accepted Manuscript
- Journal Name:
- ACS Sustainable Chemistry & Engineering
- Additional Journal Information:
- Journal Volume: 7; Journal Issue: 6; Journal ID: ISSN 2168-0485
- Publisher:
- American Chemical Society (ACS)
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
- Subject:
- 37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CHEMISTRY; Photonics; oxides; amorphous materials; electrical conductivity; annealing (metallurgy)
Citation Formats
Park, Sangwook, Baek, Ji Hyun, Zhang, Liang, Lee, Jae Myeong, Stone, Kevin H., Cho, In Sun, Guo, Jinghua, Jung, Hyun Suk, and Zheng, Xiaolin. Rapid Flame-Annealed CuFe2O4 as Efficient Photocathode for Photoelectrochemical Hydrogen Production. United States: N. p., 2019.
Web. doi:10.1021/acssuschemeng.8b05824.
Park, Sangwook, Baek, Ji Hyun, Zhang, Liang, Lee, Jae Myeong, Stone, Kevin H., Cho, In Sun, Guo, Jinghua, Jung, Hyun Suk, & Zheng, Xiaolin. Rapid Flame-Annealed CuFe2O4 as Efficient Photocathode for Photoelectrochemical Hydrogen Production. United States. https://doi.org/10.1021/acssuschemeng.8b05824
Park, Sangwook, Baek, Ji Hyun, Zhang, Liang, Lee, Jae Myeong, Stone, Kevin H., Cho, In Sun, Guo, Jinghua, Jung, Hyun Suk, and Zheng, Xiaolin. Wed .
"Rapid Flame-Annealed CuFe2O4 as Efficient Photocathode for Photoelectrochemical Hydrogen Production". United States. https://doi.org/10.1021/acssuschemeng.8b05824. https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1529088.
@article{osti_1529088,
title = {Rapid Flame-Annealed CuFe2O4 as Efficient Photocathode for Photoelectrochemical Hydrogen Production},
author = {Park, Sangwook and Baek, Ji Hyun and Zhang, Liang and Lee, Jae Myeong and Stone, Kevin H. and Cho, In Sun and Guo, Jinghua and Jung, Hyun Suk and Zheng, Xiaolin},
abstractNote = {Copper ferrite (CuFe2O4) possesses an indirect bandgap in the range of 1.54–1.95 eV. It is used as an attractive p-type photocathode in photoelectrochemical (PEC) water splitting, and theoretically it can yield a maximum photocurrent density of ~27 mA/cm2 and a maximum solar-to-hydrogen conversion efficiency of ~33%. To date, only a few reports have been published on CuFe2O4 photocathodes with very low-photocurrent densities, with a maximum value of 0.4 mA/cm2 at 0.4 V vs RHE. Herein, we prepared a CuFe2O4 photocathode on FTO glass with the sol–gel method followed by either high-temperature flame annealing or furnace annealing. We found that the flame-annealed CuFe2O4 photocathode generated a photocurrent density of 1.82 mA/cm2 at 0.4 V vs RHE that is approximately 3.5 times higher than the furnace-annealed CuFe2O4 (0.52 mA/cm2). This photocurrent density is also higher than those of all the reported CuFe2O4 photocathodes, and any Cu containing ternary oxide (Cu–M–O, M: Fe, Bi, V, and Nb) photocathode (0.1–1.3 mA/cm2 at 0.4 V vs RHE). An improved PEC performance of the flame-annealed CuFe2O4 photocathode is elicited owing to the beneficial effects of flame annealing on the physical, optical, and electrical properties of CuFe2O4. Flame annealing enhances the light absorption property of the CuFe2O4 photocathode by slightly reducing the bandgap, and by forming a thicker film with increased porosity. Flame annealing also reduces the oxygen vacancy concentration in CuFe2O4, thus facilitating charge transport and interfacial charge transfer processes. Moreover, flame annealing requires only 16 min, which is much shorter than the time required for furnace annealing (~9 h). Furthermore, these results demonstrate that flame annealing is a rapid and effective means for fabricating metal oxide photoelectrodes with an enhanced PEC water splitting performance.},
doi = {10.1021/acssuschemeng.8b05824},
journal = {ACS Sustainable Chemistry & Engineering},
number = 6,
volume = 7,
place = {United States},
year = {Wed Feb 06 00:00:00 EST 2019},
month = {Wed Feb 06 00:00:00 EST 2019}
}
Free Publicly Available Full Text
Publisher's Version of Record
Other availability
Search WorldCat to find libraries that may hold this journal
Cited by: 45 works
Citation information provided by
Web of Science
Web of Science
Save to My Library
You must Sign In or Create an Account in order to save documents to your library.
Works referenced in this record:
Roadmap on solar water splitting: current status and future prospects
journal, September 2017
- Chu, Sheng; Li, Wei; Yan, Yanfa
- Nano Futures, Vol. 1, Issue 2
Artificial photosynthesis for solar water-splitting
journal, July 2012
- Tachibana, Yasuhiro; Vayssieres, Lionel; Durrant, James R.
- Nature Photonics, Vol. 6, Issue 8
Solar Water Splitting Cells
journal, November 2010
- Walter, Michael G.; Warren, Emily L.; McKone, James R.
- Chemical Reviews, Vol. 110, Issue 11, p. 6446-6473
Photoelectrochemical Tandem Cells for Solar Water Splitting
journal, July 2013
- Prévot, Mathieu S.; Sivula, Kevin
- The Journal of Physical Chemistry C, Vol. 117, Issue 35
Unbiased Sunlight-Driven Artificial Photosynthesis of Carbon Monoxide from CO 2 Using a ZnTe-Based Photocathode and a Perovskite Solar Cell in Tandem
journal, July 2016
- Jang, Youn Jeong; Jeong, Inyoung; Lee, Jaehyuk
- ACS Nano, Vol. 10, Issue 7
Efficient solar water splitting by enhanced charge separation in a bismuth vanadate-silicon tandem photoelectrode
journal, July 2013
- Abdi, Fatwa F.; Han, Lihao; Smets, Arno H. M.
- Nature Communications, Vol. 4, Issue 1
Water Splitting Progress in Tandem Devices: Moving Photolysis beyond Electrolysis
journal, June 2016
- Zhang, Kan; Ma, Ming; Li, Ping
- Advanced Energy Materials, Vol. 6, Issue 15
Boosting the solar water oxidation performance of a BiVO 4 photoanode by crystallographic orientation control
journal, January 2018
- Han, Hyun Soo; Shin, Sun; Kim, Dong Hoe
- Energy & Environmental Science, Vol. 11, Issue 5
BiVO 4 /WO 3 /SnO 2 Double-Heterojunction Photoanode with Enhanced Charge Separation and Visible-Transparency for Bias-Free Solar Water-Splitting with a Perovskite Solar Cell
journal, January 2017
- Baek, Ji Hyun; Kim, Byeong Jo; Han, Gill Sang
- ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces, Vol. 9, Issue 2
Flame synthesis of WO3 nanotubes and nanowires for efficient photoelectrochemical water-splitting
journal, January 2013
- Rao, Pratap M.; Cho, In Sun; Zheng, Xiaolin
- Proceedings of the Combustion Institute, Vol. 34, Issue 2
Electrostatic spray deposition of transparent tungsten oxide thin-film photoanodes for solar water splitting
journal, February 2016
- Yoon, Hyun; Mali, Mukund G.; Kim, Min-woo
- Catalysis Today, Vol. 260
Enhancing Low-Bias Performance of Hematite Photoanodes for Solar Water Splitting by Simultaneous Reduction of Bulk, Interface, and Surface Recombination Pathways
journal, December 2015
- Cho, In Sun; Han, Hyun Soo; Logar, Manca
- Advanced Energy Materials, Vol. 6, Issue 4
Highly Conformal Deposition of an Ultrathin FeOOH Layer on a Hematite Nanostructure for Efficient Solar Water Splitting
journal, August 2016
- Kim, Jae Young; Youn, Duck Hyun; Kang, Kyoungwoong
- Angewandte Chemie International Edition, Vol. 55, Issue 36
Codoping titanium dioxide nanowires with tungsten and carbon for enhanced photoelectrochemical performance
journal, April 2013
- Cho, In Sun; Lee, Chi Hwan; Feng, Yunzhe
- Nature Communications, Vol. 4, Issue 1
Rapid and Controllable Flame Reduction of TiO 2 Nanowires for Enhanced Solar Water-Splitting
journal, December 2013
- Cho, In Sun; Logar, Manca; Lee, Chi Hwan
- Nano Letters, Vol. 14, Issue 1
Electrochemical Synthesis of Photoelectrodes and Catalysts for Use in Solar Water Splitting
journal, August 2015
- Kang, Donghyeon; Kim, Tae Woo; Kubota, Stephen R.
- Chemical Reviews, Vol. 115, Issue 23
Photoelectrochemical devices for solar water splitting – materials and challenges
journal, January 2017
- Jiang, Chaoran; Moniz, Savio J. A.; Wang, Aiqin
- Chemical Society Reviews, Vol. 46, Issue 15
Tree branch-shaped cupric oxide for highly effective photoelectrochemical water reduction
journal, January 2015
- Jang, Youn Jeong; Jang, Ji-Wook; Choi, Sun Hee
- Nanoscale, Vol. 7, Issue 17
Biological Templates for Antireflective Current Collectors for Photoelectrochemical Cell Applications
journal, October 2012
- Chiang, Chia-Ying; Epstein, Jillian; Brown, Adam
- Nano Letters, Vol. 12, Issue 11
Highly active oxide photocathode for photoelectrochemical water reduction
journal, May 2011
- Paracchino, Adriana; Laporte, Vincent; Sivula, Kevin
- Nature Materials, Vol. 10, Issue 6
Ultrathin films on copper(i) oxide water splitting photocathodes: a study on performance and stability
journal, January 2012
- Paracchino, Adriana; Mathews, Nripan; Hisatomi, Takashi
- Energy & Environmental Science, Vol. 5, Issue 9
Synthesis and Characterization of High-Photoactivity Electrodeposited Cu 2 O Solar Absorber by Photoelectrochemistry and Ultrafast Spectroscopy
journal, March 2012
- Paracchino, Adriana; Brauer, Jan Cornelius; Moser, Jacques-Edouard
- The Journal of Physical Chemistry C, Vol. 116, Issue 13
Enhancing the Performance of a Robust Sol-Gel-Processed p-Type Delafossite CuFeO 2 Photocathode for Solar Water Reduction
journal, January 2015
- Prévot, Mathieu S.; Guijarro, Néstor; Sivula, Kevin
- ChemSusChem, Vol. 8, Issue 8
Electrochemical Synthesis of p-Type CuFeO 2 Electrodes for Use in a Photoelectrochemical Cell
journal, July 2012
- Read, Carrie G.; Park, Yiseul; Choi, Kyoung-Shin
- The Journal of Physical Chemistry Letters, Vol. 3, Issue 14
Oxygen-Intercalated CuFeO 2 Photocathode Fabricated by Hybrid Microwave Annealing for Efficient Solar Hydrogen Production
journal, August 2016
- Jang, Youn Jeong; Park, Yoon Bin; Kim, Hyo Eun
- Chemistry of Materials, Vol. 28, Issue 17
Photoelectrochemical Properties and Photostabilities of High Surface Area CuBi 2 O 4 and Ag-Doped CuBi 2 O 4 Photocathodes
journal, June 2016
- Kang, Donghyeon; Hill, James C.; Park, Yiseul
- Chemistry of Materials, Vol. 28, Issue 12
p-Type CuBi 2 O 4 : an easily accessible photocathodic material for high-efficiency water splitting
journal, January 2016
- Cao, Dawei; Nasori, Nasori; Wang, Zhijie
- Journal of Materials Chemistry A, Vol. 4, Issue 23
Optical, electronic, and photoelectrochemical properties of the p-type Cu 3−x VO 4 semiconductor
journal, January 2015
- Sahoo, Prangya P.; Zoellner, Brandon; Maggard, Paul A.
- Journal of Materials Chemistry A, Vol. 3, Issue 8
Solution Combustion Synthesis, Characterization, and Photoelectrochemistry of CuNb 2 O 6 and ZnNb 2 O 6 Nanoparticles
journal, March 2016
- Kormányos, A.; Thomas, A.; Huda, M. N.
- The Journal of Physical Chemistry C, Vol. 120, Issue 29
A simple method for fabricating p–n junction photocatalyst CuFe2O4/Bi4Ti3O12 and its photocatalytic activity
journal, February 2014
- Zhao, W.; Jin, Y.; Gao, C. H.
- Materials Chemistry and Physics, Vol. 143, Issue 3
Synthesis and physical properties of the CuFe 2−x Mn x O 4 (0 ≤ x ≤ 2) solid solution
journal, December 2014
- Helaïli, N.; Bessekhouad, Y.; Bachari, K.
- Materials Chemistry and Physics, Vol. 148, Issue 3
Study of Copper Ferrite as a Novel Photocathode for Water Reduction: Improving Its Photoactivity by Electrochemical Pretreatment
journal, May 2016
- Díez-García, María Isabel; Lana-Villarreal, Teresa; Gómez, Roberto
- ChemSusChem, Vol. 9, Issue 12
Research Update: Photoelectrochemical water splitting and photocatalytic hydrogen production using ferrites (MFe 2 O 4 ) under visible light irradiation
journal, October 2015
- Dillert, Ralf; Taffa, Dereje H.; Wark, Michael
- APL Materials, Vol. 3, Issue 10
Accelerating materials development for photoelectrochemical hydrogen production: Standards for methods, definitions, and reporting protocols
journal, January 2010
- Chen, Zhebo; Jaramillo, Thomas F.; Deutsch, Todd G.
- Journal of Materials Research, Vol. 25, Issue 1
Photoassisted hydrogen evolution over spinel CuM2O4 (M=Al, Cr, Mn, Fe and Co)
journal, November 2006
- Saadi, S.; Bouguelia, A.; Trari, M.
- Renewable Energy, Vol. 31, Issue 14
High Performance of Manganese Porphyrin Sensitized p-Type CuFe2O4 Photocathode for Solar Water Splitting to Produce Hydrogen in a Tandem Photoelectrochemical Cell
journal, March 2018
- Li, Xia; Liu, Aijuan; Chu, Dongmei
- Catalysts, Vol. 8, Issue 3
Visible light induced hydrogen on the novel hetero-system CuFe2O4/TiO2
journal, August 2011
- Kezzim, A.; Nasrallah, N.; Abdi, A.
- Energy Conversion and Management, Vol. 52, Issue 8-9
Ultrafast Flame Annealing of TiO 2 Paste for Fabricating Dye-Sensitized and Perovskite Solar Cells with Enhanced Efficiency
journal, September 2017
- Kim, Jung Kyu; Chai, Sung Uk; Cho, Yoonjun
- Small, Vol. 13, Issue 42
Sol-Flame Synthesis: A General Strategy To Decorate Nanowires with Metal Oxide/Noble Metal Nanoparticles
journal, April 2012
- Feng, Yunzhe; Cho, In Sun; Rao, Pratap M.
- Nano Letters, Vol. 13, Issue 3
Sol-flame synthesis of cobalt-doped TiO 2 nanowires with enhanced electrocatalytic activity for oxygen evolution reaction
journal, January 2014
- Cai, Lili; Cho, In Sun; Logar, Manca
- Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys., Vol. 16, Issue 24
Nanodome Structured BiVO 4 /GaO x N 1− x Photoanode for Solar Water Oxidation
journal, July 2017
- Kang, Bong Kyun; Han, Gill Sang; Baek, Ji Hyun
- Advanced Materials Interfaces, Vol. 4, Issue 17
Efficient solar-driven water splitting by nanocone BiVO 4 -perovskite tandem cells
journal, June 2016
- Qiu, Yongcai; Liu, Wei; Chen, Wei
- Science Advances, Vol. 2, Issue 6
Facile synthesis of Fe 3+ /Fe 2+ self-doped nanoporous FeVO 4 photoanodes for efficient solar water splitting
journal, January 2017
- Wang, Wei; Zhang, Yajun; Wang, Lei
- Journal of Materials Chemistry A, Vol. 5, Issue 6
General Characterization Methods for Photoelectrochemical Cells for Solar Water Splitting
journal, September 2015
- Shi, Xinjian; Cai, Lili; Ma, Ming
- ChemSusChem, Vol. 8, Issue 19
Activation of Hematite Photoanodes for Solar Water Splitting: Effect of FTO Deformation
journal, February 2015
- Annamalai, Alagappan; Subramanian, Arunprabaharan; Kang, Unseock
- The Journal of Physical Chemistry C, Vol. 119, Issue 7
Single-crystalline, wormlike hematite photoanodes for efficient solar water splitting
journal, September 2013
- Kim, Jae Young; Magesh, Ganesan; Youn, Duck Hyun
- Scientific Reports, Vol. 3, Issue 1
EXAFS and XANES Investigations of CuFe 2 O 4 Nanoparticles and CuFe 2 O 4 −MO 2 (M = Sn, Ce) Nanocomposites
journal, November 2007
- Krishnan, Venkata; Selvan, Ramakrishnan Kalai; Augustin, Chanassary Ouso
- The Journal of Physical Chemistry C, Vol. 111, Issue 45
-edge absorption spectra of selected vanadium compounds
journal, November 1984
- Wong, J.; Lytle, F. W.; Messmer, R. P.
- Physical Review B, Vol. 30, Issue 10
Evidence of a cubic iron sub-lattice in t-CuFe2O4 demonstrated by X-ray Absorption Fine Structure
journal, January 2018
- Caddeo, Francesco; Loche, Danilo; Casula, Maria F.
- Scientific Reports, Vol. 8, Issue 1
Filling the oxygen vacancies in Co 3 O 4 with phosphorus: an ultra-efficient electrocatalyst for overall water splitting
journal, January 2017
- Xiao, Zhaohui; Wang, Yu; Huang, Yu-Cheng
- Energy & Environmental Science, Vol. 10, Issue 12
Hematite photoelectrodes for water splitting: evaluation of the role of film thickness by impedance spectroscopy
journal, January 2014
- Lopes, Tânia; Andrade, Luísa; Le Formal, Florian
- Physical Chemistry Chemical Physics, Vol. 16, Issue 31
Vacuum-treated titanium dioxide nanocrystals: Optical properties, surface disorder, oxygen vacancy, and photocatalytic activities
journal, April 2014
- Xia, Ting; Zhang, Yuliang; Murowchick, James
- Catalysis Today, Vol. 225
Amorphous Molybdenum Sulfide Catalysts for Electrochemical Hydrogen Production: Insights into the Origin of their Catalytic Activity
journal, August 2012
- Benck, Jesse D.; Chen, Zhebo; Kuritzky, Leah Y.
- ACS Catalysis, Vol. 2, Issue 9, p. 1916-1923
Ruthenium Oxide Hydrogen Evolution Catalysis on Composite Cuprous Oxide Water-Splitting Photocathodes
journal, July 2013
- Tilley, S. David; Schreier, Marcel; Azevedo, João
- Advanced Functional Materials, Vol. 24, Issue 3
A highly stable CuS and CuS–Pt modified Cu 2 O/CuO heterostructure as an efficient photocathode for the hydrogen evolution reaction
journal, January 2016
- Dubale, Amare Aregahegn; Tamirat, Andebet Gedamu; Chen, Hung-Ming
- Journal of Materials Chemistry A, Vol. 4, Issue 6
Works referencing / citing this record:
Porous Cupric Oxide: Efficient Photocathode for Photoelectrochemical Water Splitting
journal, July 2019
- Basu, Mrinmoyee
- ChemPhotoChem, Vol. 3, Issue 12
An Fe-doped NiV LDH ultrathin nanosheet as a highly efficient electrocatalyst for efficient water oxidation
journal, January 2019
- Wang, Zhaolong; Liu, Wenjun; Hu, Yiming
- Inorganic Chemistry Frontiers, Vol. 6, Issue 7