Dalton Transactions

doi: 10.1039/C7DT90152Fpmid: N/A

doi: 10.1039/c7dt90152fpmid: N/A

doi: 10.1039/C7DT90153Dpmid: N/A

doi: 10.1039/c7dt90153dpmid: N/A

Feng, Pingyun; Zou, Zhigang

doi: 10.1039/c7dt90128cpmid: 28782068

Takata, Tsuyoshi; Domen, Kazunari

doi: 10.1039/c7dt00867hpmid: 28589988

Water splitting via photocatalysis and photoelectrolysis is a potential means to produce clean and renewable hydrogen as a storable high-density energy carrier. At present, the main concern is how to develop semiconductor materials for efficiently converting sunlight energy. The present perspective summarises recent developments in the use of new semiconductors as light-harvesting materials. Specifically, non-oxides, oxynitrides and oxysulfides have been demonstrated to be promising materials for water splitting under visible light. The design of such materials and their application to photocatalytic and photoelectrochemical water splitting are discussed.

Lyu, Fenglei; Bai, Yaocai; Wang, Qingfa; Wang, Li; Zhang, Xiangwen; Yin, Yadong

doi: 10.1039/c7dt01110epmid: 28530739

Identification of active sites for oxygen evolution reaction (OER) plays a key role in the design and fabrication of high-performance cobalt-based electrocatalysts. Herein, we report the synthesis of two types of two-dimensional monometallic cobalt hydroxide nanoplates in aqueous solution for OER: α-Co(OH)2 with both Co2+Td and Co2+Oh sites and β-Co(OH)2 with Co2+Oh sites. Electrochemical characterization reveals that α-Co(OH)2 is more active than β-Co(OH)2 towards OER. The better activity can be attributed to the presence of Co2+Td sites in α-Co(OH)2, which are more active than Co2+Oh sites. Our finding clarifies the contribution of the two catalytic sites and helps future rational design of high-performance OER electrocatalysts.

Bu, Qijing; Li, Shuo; Cao, Shuang; Zhao, Qidong; Chen, Yong; Wang, Dejun; Xie, Tengfeng

doi: 10.1039/c7dt00861apmid: 28497138

Nickel phosphide (Ni2P) was used as an excellent water oxidation cocatalyst for photoelectrochemical (PEC) water splitting, which could significantly promote the hole injection efficiency and suppress the back reaction of water oxidation over a Ti4+ doped Fe2O3 photoanode.

Tang, Xiu; Zhao, Jia-Hui; Li, Yu-Han; Zhou, Zi-Ji; Li, Kui; Liu, Fu-Tian; Lan, Ya-Qian

doi: 10.1039/c7dt01970jpmid: 28725895

Nanoporous Co-doped Zn1−xCdxS were facilely fabricated via adopting ZIFs as templates, and Cd(NO3)2 and thiourea as precursors. The highly porous microstructure and uniform Co-doping of the photocatalyst afford a high H2-production rate (45.2 and 422.2 times larger than those of Zn0.5Cd0.5S and CdS), providing an effective way for the development of high performance nanoporous photocatalysts.

Yan, Dejian; Liu, Jikai; Shang, Zhichao; Luo, He'an

doi: 10.1039/c7dt00850cpmid: 28466901

Ti-doped α-Fe2O3 nanorods (NRs) with carbon layer coating were fabricated for photoelectrochemical (PEC) water oxidation. The α-Fe2O3 NRs were grown on the surface of a Ti foil substrate by hydrothermal synthesis. Ti4+ was diffused from the Ti substrate and doped into the α-Fe2O3 NRs by sintering at 800 °C. The presence of Fe2+ in the α-Fe2O3 lattice was achieved by annealing the NRs in a lack of oxygen atmosphere, e.g. in argon. The co-existence of Ti4+ and Fe2+ results in significant enhancement of the PEC performance compared with the hematite NRs obtained by annealing in air, showing the absence of Fe2+. The carbon layer coating was conducted by the carbonization of glucose. Impressively, the coated carbon layer can not only facilitate the charge transfer of the photogenerated carriers but also effectively restrain the structural aggregation of the NRs upon high temperature sintering. The carbon layer coated NRs exhibited 1.2 times higher photocurrent density than the uncoated NRs due to the reduced charge recombination and well-distinct NR structures.