研究目的
The efficient conversion of solar energy into molecular hydrogen demands the fabrication of competitive and reliable nanomaterials with tunable properties. Photocatalytic reactions such as hydrogen (HER)/oxygen (OER) evolution reactions are at the forefront of energy research today. Photo water splitting is expected to become a serious candidate to substitute our strong dependency on fossil energy, especially since it has made great improvements in the past three decades, featuring the use of renewable energy with a cleanable way of storing it, via water splitting.
研究成果
We have successfully prepared photocatalytic hierarchical nanostructures by a combination of Langmuir–Schaefer, atomic layer deposition techniques, and low-temperature annealing in nitrogen-rich environment. The nitrogen-rich surfaces obtained by the proposed methodology exhibited bandgap narrowing equal to the substitutionally N-doped TiO2. The samples reported here had ≈84% higher photocatalytic response, and lower bandgap ≈5% with respect to the untreated samples.
研究不足
Further studies are required in order to optimize the Fe3O4 NPs coverage on FTO substrates, N2 adsorbed content, N2 doping rate on TiO2 thin films, and photoelectrochemical performance and stability.
1：Experimental Design and Method Selection:
The preparation of hierarchical nanostructured surfaces based on Langmuir–Schaefer and atomic layer deposition is proposed. Ultrathin TiO2 layers that are photoelectrochemically active in water splitting are prepared by a relatively low-temperature catalytic decomposition of oleic acid capping layers of iron oxide nanoparticles and the posterior nitrogen adsorption.
2：Sample Selection and Data Sources:
The samples were prepared using Fe3O4 nanoparticles capped with oleic acid, deposited on FTO glasses by Langmuir–Schaefer technique, and annealed under N2 gas before coating with TiO2 by atomic layer deposition (ALD).
3：List of Experimental Equipment and Materials:
KSV Instruments Ltd. 2000 Langmuir–Blodgett system, JEOL ARM-200F TEM, X’pert3 PANalytical diffractometer, STA6000 thermal analyzer by PerkinElmer, Autolab PGStat302N equipped with a frequency response analyzer (FRA) unit.
4：Experimental Procedures and Operational Workflow:
The Fe3O4 NPs layers were obtained with a Langmuir–Blodgett system, transferred onto FTO and Mica substrates, annealed at 300 °C for 3 h in a pure nitrogen N2 atmosphere, and coated with TiO2 by ALD.
5：Data Analysis Methods:
The photoelectrochemical performance was investigated in a three-electrode cell, using linear sweep voltammetry, chronoamperometry, and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS).
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