Chen Ying-Chu, Lin Heng-Yi, Hsu Yu-Kuei
Department of Chemical Engineering & Biotechnology, National Taipei University of Technology, Taipei City 10608, Taiwan.
Department of Opto-Electronic Engineering, National Dong Hwa University, No. 1, Sec. 2, Da Hsueh Road, Shoufeng, Hualien 97401, Taiwan.
Molecules. 2025 Aug 25;30(17):3482. doi: 10.3390/molecules30173482.
A hierarchical photoanode composed of amorphous indium phosphate (InPO)-coated titanium dioxide nanowires (TiO NWs) was successfully fabricated via a hydrothermal method followed by dip-coating and thermal phosphidation. Structural characterization revealed the formation of a uniform InPO shell on the surface of vertically aligned TiO NWs, without altering their 1D morphology. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy confirmed the incorporation of phosphate species and the presence of oxygen vacancies, which contribute to enhanced interfacial charge dynamics. Photoelectrochemical (PEC) measurements demonstrated that the InPO/TiO NWs significantly improved photocurrent density, with the 0.1 M InCl-derived sample achieving 0.36 mA·cm at 1.0 V-an enhancement of approximately 928% over pristine TiO. This enhancement is attributed to improved charge separation and injection efficiency (91%), as well as reduced interfacial resistance verified by electrochemical impedance spectroscopy. Moreover, the Mott-Schottky analysis indicated a four-order increase in carrier density due to the InPO shell. The modified electrode also exhibited superior stability under continuous illumination for 3 h. These findings highlight the potential of amorphous InPO as an effective cocatalyst for constructing efficient and durable TiO-based photoanodes for solar-driven water-splitting applications.
通过水热法,随后进行浸涂和热磷化,成功制备了一种由非晶态磷酸铟(InPO)包覆的二氧化钛纳米线(TiO NWs)组成的分级光阳极。结构表征显示,在垂直排列的TiO NWs表面形成了均匀的InPO壳层,而没有改变它们的一维形态。X射线光电子能谱证实了磷酸盐物种的掺入和氧空位的存在,这有助于增强界面电荷动力学。光电化学(PEC)测量表明,InPO/TiO NWs显著提高了光电流密度,由0.1 M InCl衍生的样品在1.0 V时达到0.36 mA·cm,比原始TiO提高了约928%。这种增强归因于电荷分离和注入效率的提高(91%),以及通过电化学阻抗谱验证的界面电阻的降低。此外,莫特-肖特基分析表明,由于InPO壳层,载流子密度增加了四个数量级。修饰电极在连续光照3小时下也表现出优异的稳定性。这些发现突出了非晶态InPO作为一种有效助催化剂的潜力,可用于构建用于太阳能驱动水分解应用的高效耐用的TiO基光阳极。