Highly Conformal Deposition of an Ultrathin FeOOH Layer on a Hematite Nanostructure for Efficient Solar Water Splitting

An ultrathin (ca. 2 nm) amorphous FeOOH overlayer was deposited conformally on a hematite nanostructure by a simple solution-based precipitation method, to generate an oxygen evolution cocatalyst for efficient solar water splitting. This uniform and highly conformal coating of the ultrathin metal oxyhydroxide is rare and is distinguished from the layers prepared by other conventional methods. With the FeOOH overlayer as the cocatalyst, the water oxidation photocurrent of hematite increased by a factor of approximately two and the onset potential shifted in the cathodic direction by 0.12 V under 1 sun illumination. The enhanced performance was attributed to the improved water oxidation kinetics and the passivation of the surface states of the hematite.