Ti-doped α-FeO nanorods with controllable morphology by carbon layer coating for enhanced photoelectrochemical water oxidation.

Ti-doped α-FeO nanorods (NRs) with carbon layer coating were fabricated for photoelectrochemical (PEC) water oxidation. The α-FeO NRs were grown on the surface of a Ti foil substrate by hydrothermal synthesis. Ti was diffused from the Ti substrate and doped into the α-FeO NRs by sintering at 800 °C. The presence of Fe in the α-FeO lattice was achieved by annealing the NRs in a lack of oxygen atmosphere, e.g. in argon. The co-existence of Ti and Fe results in significant enhancement of the PEC performance compared with the hematite NRs obtained by annealing in air, showing the absence of Fe. The carbon layer coating was conducted by the carbonization of glucose. Impressively, the coated carbon layer can not only facilitate the charge transfer of the photogenerated carriers but also effectively restrain the structural aggregation of the NRs upon high temperature sintering. The carbon layer coated NRs exhibited 1.2 times higher photocurrent density than the uncoated NRs due to the reduced charge recombination and well-distinct NR structures.