Stabilizing CuO photocathode with a Cu3N protection shell

doi:10.1016/S1872-2067(21)63894-9

Abstract

Abstract:

CuO, as a promising photocathode material, suffers from severe photocorrosion in photoelectrochemical water splitting applications. Herein, a Cu₃N protection shell was used to protect the CuO photocathode for the first time to effectively suppress the photocorrosion of CuO. Consequently, the Cu₃N-protected CuO photocathode shows improved stability, retaining 80% of its initial current density in a 20-min test, while only 10% of the initial current density can be retained for the bare photocathode. This work may provide an important strategy for using Cu₃N shells to stabilize unstable photocathodes.

Key words: CuO, Cu₃N, Photocathode, Stability, Water splitting

Xiang-dong Meng, Chao Zhen, Gang Liu, Hui-Ming Cheng. Stabilizing CuO photocathode with a Cu₃N protection shell[J]. Chinese Journal of Catalysis, 2022, 43(3): 755-760.

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URL: https://www.cjcatal.com/EN/10.1016/S1872-2067(21)63894-9

https://www.cjcatal.com/EN/Y2022/V43/I3/755

Figures/Tables 4

Fig. 1. (a) Schematic of the fabrication process for CuO and Cu3N-protected CuO (CuO@Cu3N) films; SEM images of the sputtered Cu film (b), resultant CuO film after thermal oxidation of the Cu film (c), and obtained CuO@Cu3N film via nitridation of the CuO film (d).

Fig. 2. High resolution XPS spectra of Cu 2p (a), N 1s (b), O 1s (c) of CuO and CuO@Cu3N films.

Fig. 3. J-V curves (a) and photocurrent decay (b) (at 0.2 V vs. RHE) curves of CuO and CuO@Cu3N photocathodes measured in an aqueous solution of 0.1 mol/L Na2SO4 under simulated AM 1.5G chopped irradiation.

Fig. 4. SEM images of CuO (a) and CuO@Cu3N (c) photocathodes after the 20 min duration test; Photocorrosion schematic of CuO (b) and CuO@Cu3N photocathodes (d); Cu 2p (e), N 1s (f), O 1s (g) XPS spectra of CuO and CuO@Cu3N photocathodes after the 20 min duration test.

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Stabilizing CuO photocathode with a Cu₃N protection shell

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