Synthesis of Cu2O/Carbon film/NiCoB-GO Heterostructure Photocathode for Efficient Photoelectrochemical Water Splitting

摘要： Photoelectrochemical (PEC) water splitting offers a promising way to convert solar energy to chemical energy. The electron transfer rate and surface-catalyzed ability toward hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) play the key roles in the efficiency of PEC water splitting. In this work, a Cu2O/Carbon film/NiCoB-GO heterostructure photocathode is fabricated. Among them, thickness-controllable carbon film served as the electron transport and protective layer with favourable optical property, NiCoB-GO amorphous catalyst displays the efficient performance towards HER in neutral condition. The optimized photocathode shows the PEC-HER performance with a photocurrent density of -2.9 mA/cm2 at 0 V vs. RHE, and it also presents better stability than bare Cu2O. This work provides a novel heterostructure photocathode for promoting solar-driven PEC water splitting efficiently.