Search

Summary: Elemental doping promises an efficient strategy to modify and optimize the performance of metal oxide photoanodes. Herein, we introduce a simple hydrothermal method to fabricate In‐doped ZnO thin films on the fluorine‐doped tin oxide (FTO) to use as a photoanode for water splitting application. The effects of In‐doping on the structural, optical, morphological, and electrical properties of ZnO nanorods were studied. PEC results indicate that the 5% In doped ZnO photoanode determined an outstanding photocurrent density reached 0.42 mA/cm2 at 0.64 VAg/AgCl, which is four times higher than the undoped ZnO sample (0.1 mA/cm2). Furthermore, Ultraviolet‐visible spectroscopy (UV‐Vis) and photoluminescence spectroscopy (PL) studies showed a red‐shift in the band edge of doped samples compared to the pure samples, which indicate that the light absorption is enhanced. We find that the optimal doping of In (5%) leads to smaller charge transfer resistance and higher electron transfer rate as confirmed from EIS analysis. Therefore, fabricated In‐doped ZnO could be a favorable and potential photoelectrode for light‐harvesting and water splitting application. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: Hybrid metal oxide heterostructures have been considered as ideal and potential anode materials for lithium ion batteries (LIBs) due to their better electrochemical performances, such as reversible capacity, structural stability and electronic conductivity. Herein, we have demonstrated synthesis of NiCo2O4/BiVO4 heterostructures by simple hydrothermal strategy to construct hybrid xNiCo2O4/(1–x)BiVO4 heterostructures with four selected compositions, that is, x = 10%, 20%, 30% and 40%. XRD shows the phases of NiCo2O4 and BiVO4 and FE‐SEM data revealed strong interface coupling between NiCo2O4 nanowires and BiVO4 dendrites. Upon testing for electrochemical properties, the optimized composition of 30%NiCo2O4‐70% BiVO4 showed higher reversible capacity of 408.6 mAh/g at a constant current rate of 0.5 A/g after 1000 cycles with columbic efficiency around 99% suggesting potential electrode material for high‐performance LIBs. The higher capacity is mainly attributed to the large surface area which can provide more channels and locations for fast Li ion intercalation/de‐intercalation into electrode materials. Additionally, improved Li ion storage capacity with superior rate capability of BN‐30 electrode could be attributed to its lower charge‐transfer resistance. The dendritic and nanowire heterostructure novel system with good stable capacity for LIBs is hitherto unattempted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]