am9b19418_si_001.pdf (10.86 MB)
Electroless Plating of NiFeP Alloy on the Surface of Silicon Photoanode for Efficient Photoelectrochemical Water Oxidation
journal contribution
posted on 2020-02-25, 19:42 authored by Fusheng Li, Yingzheng Li, Qiming Zhuo, Dinghua Zhou, Yilong Zhao, Ziqi Zhao, Xiujuan Wu, Yu Shan, Licheng SunN-type silicon is a kind of semiconductor with a narrow band gap that
has been reported as an outstanding light-harvesting material for
photoelectrochemical (PEC) reactions. Decorating a thin catalyst layer
on the n-type silicon surface can provide a direct
and effective route toward PEC water oxidation. However, most of catalyst
immobilization methods for reported n-type silicon
photoanodes have been based on energetically demanding, time-consuming,
and high-cost processes. Herein, a high-performance NiFeP alloy (NiFeP)-decorated n-type micro-pyramid silicon
array (n-Si) photoanode (NiFeP/n-Si) was
prepared by a fast and low-cost electroless deposition method for
light-driven water oxidation reaction. The saturated photocurrent
density of NiFeP/n-Si can reach up to ∼40 mA cm–2, and a photocurrent density of 15.5 mA cm–2 can be achieved at 1.23 VRHE under light illumination
(100 mW cm–2, AM1.5 filter), which is one of the
most promising silicon-based photoanodes to date. The kinetic studies
showed that the NiFeP on the silicon photoanodes could
significantly decrease the interfacial charge recombination between
the n-type silicon surface and electrolyte.