FeO-based nanostructures and nanohybrids for photoelectrochemical water splitting

The need to satisfy the growing global population’s enormous energy demands is a major challenge for modern societies. Photoelectrochemical (PEC) water splitting (WS) is seen as a leading strategy for producing an extremely promising renewable store of energy – hydrogen (H2). However, PEC-WS is a co...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Progress in materials science 2020-05, Vol.110, p.100632-56, Article 100632
Main Authors: Kment, Š., Sivula, K., Naldoni, A., Sarmah, S.P., Kmentová, H., Kulkarni, M., Rambabu, Y., Schmuki, P., Zbořil, R.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Cocalysts
Electromagnetic absorption
Hematite
Hydrogen-based energy
Iron oxides
Materials science
Nanostructures
Photoelectrochemical water splitting on Iron oxides
Redox reactions
Semiconductors
Spinel iron ferrites
Titanates
Water splitting
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:The need to satisfy the growing global population’s enormous energy demands is a major challenge for modern societies. Photoelectrochemical (PEC) water splitting (WS) is seen as a leading strategy for producing an extremely promising renewable store of energy – hydrogen (H2). However, PEC-WS is a complex process involving several sequential physicochemical reaction steps including light absorption, separation of photoexcited charges, and surface redox reactions. At present, FeO-based semiconductors represent a unique class of materials known to exhibit very high performance in all these processes. This review summarizes and critically discusses the major components of PEC-WS systems incorporating FeO-based light-harvesting systems, and outlines the progress that has been made, particularly over the last decade. Emphasis is placed on materials used as photoanodes (including hematite and nonhematite iron oxides, spinel iron ferrites, and pseudobrookite iron titanates) as well as materials used as cocatalysts and passivation layers – notably iron hydroxyoxides and their composites. We discuss strategies for overcoming the main limitations of the aforementioned materials via nanostructuring, elemental doping, surface decoration, and the formation of advanced hybrid nanoarchitectures. Finally, we use this knowledge to present a critical overview of the field and the future prospects of Fe-O semiconductors in PEC-WS applications.
ISSN:0079-6425
1873-2208
DOI:10.1016/j.pmatsci.2019.100632