Simultaneously Enhanced Charge Separation and Transfer in Cocatalyst-Free Hematite Photoanode by Mo/Sn Codoping

It is well-known that sluggish surface charge transfer on a cocatalyst-free hematite photoanode limits its solar conversion efficiency in photoelectrochemical (PEC) water splitting. Here, Mo is used as a codopant synergistically with Sn in α-Fe2O3 to solve this problem. Besides causing a slight narrowing of bandgap, morphological change, and even sublimation loss of α-Fe2O3, Mo doping also imports low-valent Fe due to charge compensation with MoV/VI as indicated by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and Bader charge computation, which increases the densities of donor and surfaces states. Although rate law analysis demonstrates slight retardation of surface reaction kinetics, strongly inhibited charge recombination in surface states by Mo doping still contributes to improving the photocurrent density and reducing the onset potential of α-Fe2O3 and Sn–Fe2O3 photoanodes. An optimized Mo/Sn–Fe2O3 photoanode can realize a low onset potential of 0.68 V vs a reversible hydrogen electrode (VRHE) and a photocurrent density of 1.97 mA cm–2 at 1.23 VRHE, enhanced by 58% and 20 times compared to Sn–Fe2O3 and α-Fe2O3, respectively. It is demonstrated that Mo doping promotes charge transfer which differs from most traditional n-type dopants that facilitate charge separation but inhibit charge transfer. This report expands the n-type dopant family of α-Fe2O3 for efficient PEC water splitting.