Subpicosecond to Second Time-Scale Charge Carrier Kinetics in Hematite-Titania Nanocomposite Photoanodes

Water splitting with hematite is negatively affected by poor intrinsic charge transport properties. However, they can be modified by forming heterojunctions to improve charge separation. For this purpose, charge dynamics of TiO2:α-Fe2O3 nanocomposite photoanodes are studied using transient absorption spectroscopy to monitor the evolution of photogenerated charge carriers as a function of applied bias voltage. The bias affects the charge carrier dynamics, leading to trapped electrons in the submillisecond time scale and an accumulation of holes with a lifetime of 0.4 ± 0.1 s. By contrast, slower electron trapping and only few long-lived holes are observed in a bare hematite photoanode. The decay of the long-lived holes is 1 order of magnitude faster for the composite photoanodes than previously published for doped hematite, indicative of higher catalytic efficiency. These results illustrate the advantages of using composite materials to overcome poor charge carrier dynamics, leading to a 30-fold enhancement in photocurrent.