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Synergistic Regulation of Bulk and Surface Properties Promoting Carrier Separation and Transport in Cu2O Photocathode
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DOI：10.1002/cnma.70315.png)
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Abstract
En 中文
Cu2O is a promising p-type semiconductor for photoelectrochemical (PEC) hydrogen production owing to its suitable band structure and high theoretical photocurrent density. However, its practical application is limited by fast photogenerated carrier recombination and severe photocorrosion. In this work, a NiOx/Cu2O-A/CeO2 sandwich-structured photocathode was fabricated. Based on their electric structure with favorable interfacial band alignment, NiOx and CeO2 play a role as hole transport and electron transport layer to accelerate Cu2O surface carrier separation, respectively. Meanwhile, annealing induces in situ formation of Cu nanoparticles within Cu2O, improving Cu2O bulk electron extraction and carrier separation. CeO2 simultaneously acts as protective coating, suppressing surface recombination and photocorrosion. The optimized NiOx/Cu2O-A/CeO2 photocathode delivers a photocurrent density of 3.1 mA/cm2 at 0 V versus RHE, more than ten times higher than pure Cu2O, with a maximum IPCE of 33.1%. Moreover, it retains 68% of its initial current after 5 h operation, exhibiting markedly improved stability. Electrochemical and optical analyses indicate that the multilayer architecture synergistically modulates surface charge transport, prolongs carrier lifetime, enhances separation and injection efficiencies. This work demonstrates a simple and low-cost strategy for constructing efficient and stable Cu2O-based photocathodes.
Keywords:
Cu2O
electron transport layer
hole transport layer
metal nanoparticles
photocathode
photoelectrochemical
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