Rapid Flame-Annealed CuFe2O4 as Efficient Photocathode for Photoelectrochemical Hydrogen Production

Park, Sangwook; Baek, Ji Hyun; Zhang, Liang; Lee, Jae Myeong; Stone, Kevin H.; Cho, In Sun; Guo, Jinghua; Jung, Hyun Suk; Zheng, Xiaolin

doi:10.1021/acssuschemeng.8b05824

Title: Rapid Flame-Annealed CuFe₂O₄ as Efficient Photocathode for Photoelectrochemical Hydrogen Production

Journal Article · 06 February 2019 · ACS Sustainable Chemistry & Engineering

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1021/acssuschemeng.8b05824 · OSTI ID:1529088

^[1]; Baek, Ji Hyun ^[2];

^[3]; Lee, Jae Myeong ^[4]; Stone, Kevin H. ^[5];

^[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)

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.

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Research Organization:: Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States); SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory (SLAC), Menlo Park, CA (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: Creative Materials Discovery Program; Global Frontier R&D Program of the Center for Multiscale Energy System; National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF); USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES)

Grant/Contract Number:: AC02-76SF00515

OSTI ID:: 1529088

Journal Information:: ACS Sustainable Chemistry & Engineering, Journal Name: ACS Sustainable Chemistry & Engineering Journal Issue: 6 Vol. 7; ISSN 2168-0485

Publisher:: American Chemical Society (ACS)Copyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

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37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CHEMISTRY
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annealing (metallurgy)
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oxides

Title: Rapid Flame-Annealed CuFe2O4 as Efficient Photocathode for Photoelectrochemical Hydrogen Production

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Title: Rapid Flame-Annealed CuFe₂O₄ as Efficient Photocathode for Photoelectrochemical Hydrogen Production