Fabrication of Flower-Shaped Sb 2 S 3 /Fe 2 O 3 Heterostructures for Enhanced Photoelectrochemical Performance

• Published in: Langmuir 2024-06, Vol.40 (23), p.12097-12106
• Main Authors: Li, Zengyuan, Jiang, Nan, Wang, Kaixin, Huang, Denghui, Ye, Zhizhen, Jiang, Jie, Zhu, Liping
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• ISSN: 0743-7463; 1520-5827
• DOI: 10.1021/acs.langmuir.4c00938

Antimony sulfide (Sb S ) has been recognized as a catalytic material for splitting water by solar energy because of its suitable narrow band gap, high absorption coefficient, and abundance of elements. However, many deep-level defects in Sb S result in a significant recombination of photoexcited electron-hole pairs, weakening its photoelectrochemical performance. Here, by using a simple hydrothermal and spin-coating method, we fabricated a step-scheme heterojunction of Sb S /α-Fe O to improve the photoelectrochemical performance of pure Sb S . Our Sb S /α-Fe O photoanode has a photocurrent density of 1.18 mA/cm at 1.23 V vs reversible hydrogen electrode, 1.39 times higher than that of Sb S (0.84 mA/cm ). In addition, our heterojunction has a lower onset potential, a higher absorbance intensity, a higher incident photon-to-current conversion efficiency, a higher applied bias photon-to-current efficiency, and a lower charge transfer resistance compared to pure Sb S . Based on ultraviolet photoelectron spectroscopy, we constructed a step-scheme band structure of Sb S /α-Fe O to explain its photoelectrochemical enhancement. This work offers a promising strategy to optimize the performance of Sb S photoelectrodes for solar-driven photoelectrochemical water splitting.