Frontiers of Environmental Science & Engineering
>> 2017,
Volume 11,
Issue 6
doi:
10.1007/s11783-017-0957-z
RESEARCH ARTICLE
Covering α-Fe
Key Laboratory of Industrial Ecology and Environmental Engineering (Ministry of Education), School of Environmental Science and Technology, Dalian University of Technology, Dalian 116024, China
Available online: 2017-06-16
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Abstract
The spontaneous oxidation process of pristine silicon (Si) limits its application as photocatalyst or electrode in aqueous solution or moist air. Covering a protection layer on Si surface is an effective approach to overcome this disadvantage. In this paper, α-Fe O is demonstrated to be an excellent alternative as a protection material. α-Fe O layer was deposited around each p-type Si micropillar (SiMP) in well-ordered array by chemical bath deposition method. The diameter of SiMP was 5 mm and the thickness of α-Fe O layer was about 20 nm. The photoeletrochemical stability of SiMP/α-Fe O was proved by 10 circles cyclic voltammetry testing. Compared with SiMP, its optical absorption and photocurrent density improved 2 times and 4 times, respectively, and its onset potential for hydrogen evolution moved positively about 0.4 V. These improved performances could be ascribed to the enhanced photogenerated-charge-separation efficiency deriving from built-in electric field at the interface between Si and α-Fe O . The above results show an effective strategy to utilize Si material as photocatalyst or electrode in aqueous solution or moist air.
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