Issue 9, 2016

Understanding the anatase–rutile phase junction in charge separation and transfer in a TiO2 electrode for photoelectrochemical water splitting

Abstract

New insight into junction-based designs for efficient charge separation is vitally important for current solar energy conversion research. Herein, an anatase–rutile phase junction is elaborately introduced into TiO2 films by rapid thermal annealing treatment and the roles of phase junction on charge separation and transfer are studied in detail. A combined study of transient absorption spectroscopy, electrochemical and photoelectrochemical (PEC) measurements reveals that appropriate phase alignment is essential for unidirectional charge transfer, and a junction interface with minimized trap states is crucial to liberate the charge separation potential of the phase junction. By tailored control of phase alignment and interface structure, an optimized TiO2 film with an appropriately introduced phase junction shows superior performance in charge separation and transfer, hence achieving ca. 3 and 9 times photocurrent density enhancement compared to pristine anatase and rutile phase TiO2 electrodes, respectively. This work demonstrates the great potential of phase junctions for efficient charge separation and transfer in solar energy conversion applications.

Graphical abstract: Understanding the anatase–rutile phase junction in charge separation and transfer in a TiO2 electrode for photoelectrochemical water splitting

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Edge Article
Submitted
12 Apr 2016
Accepted
08 Jun 2016
First published
09 Jun 2016
This article is Open Access

All publication charges for this article have been paid for by the Royal Society of Chemistry
Creative Commons BY license

Chem. Sci., 2016,7, 6076-6082

Understanding the anatase–rutile phase junction in charge separation and transfer in a TiO2 electrode for photoelectrochemical water splitting

A. Li, Z. Wang, H. Yin, S. Wang, P. Yan, B. Huang, X. Wang, R. Li, X. Zong, H. Han and C. Li, Chem. Sci., 2016, 7, 6076 DOI: 10.1039/C6SC01611A

This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported Licence. You can use material from this article in other publications without requesting further permissions from the RSC, provided that the correct acknowledgement is given.

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