Oxygen-Deficient Nanofiber WO3-/WO3 Homojunction Photoanodes Synthesized via a Novel Metal Self-Reducing Method.
Defect engineering of semiconductors has been identified as an efficient route toward enhancing the photoelectrochemical performances. There is a security threat in the traditional hydrogen annealing process. In this work, the oxygen-defective nanofiber WO3-/WO3 homojunction photoanode was in situ-synthesized via a novel metal self-reducing method. The as-prepared photoanode exhibits 1.8 times higher solar water oxidation photocurrent density than that of the bare WO3 film at 1.2 V versus Ag/AgCl. The enhanced photoelectrochemical properties originate from the effective charge separation and injection, attributed to the stronger built-in electric field created by the oxygen-deficient homojunction. Importantly, this novel method is universally applicable to synthesize oxygen-deficient semiconductor materials, including films and powders.
['Zhan|Faqi|F|', 'Liu|Yang|Y|', 'Wang|Keke|K|', 'Yang|Xuetao|X|', 'Liu|Min|M|', 'Qiu|Xiaoqing|X|', 'Li|Jie|J|', 'Li|Wenzhang|W|http://orcid.org/0000-0002-6801-4105']
metal self-reducing method photoelectrochemical property homojunction films in situ oxygen vacancies