Nitrogen-incorporation activates NiFeO<sub>x</sub> catalysts for efficiently boosting oxygen evolution activity and stability of BiVO<sub>4</sub> photoanodes.
basic_science · Level V
Where this comes from
- Record sourced from PubMed, PMID 34845221.
- Also identified by DOI 10.1038/s41467-021-27299-0 and PMC identifier 8630083.
- Licence recorded as CC BY.
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Abstract
Developing low-cost and highly efficient catalysts toward the efficient oxygen evolution reaction (OER) is highly desirable for photoelectrochemical (PEC) water splitting. Herein, we demonstrated that N-incorporation could efficiently activate NiFeO<sub>x</sub> catalysts for significantly enhancing the oxygen evolution activity and stability of BiVO<sub>4</sub> photoanodes, and the photocurrent density has been achieved up to 6.4 mA cm<sup>-2</sup> at 1.23 V (vs. reversible hydrogen electrode (RHE), AM 1.5 G). Systematic studies indicate that the partial substitution of O sites in NiFeO<sub>x</sub> catalysts by low electronegative N atoms enriched the electron densities in both Fe and Ni sites. The electron-enriched Ni sites conversely donated electrons to V sites of BiVO<sub>4</sub> for restraining V<sup>5+</sup> dissolution and improving the PEC stability, while the enhanced hole-attracting ability of Fe sites significantly promotes the oxygen-evolution activity. This work provides a promising strategy for optimizing OER catalysts to construct highly efficient and stable PEC water splitting devices.