Charge reactions on crystalline/amorphous lanthanum nickel oxide cocatalyst modified hematite photoanode

Understanding the charge reactions at the semiconductor/cocatalyst interface is of great interest for boosting photoelectrochemical water splitting since the charge transfer to water molecules is the sluggish one. Besides the dopants, porosity, or ion-penetration of the cocatalyst, the crystallinity of the cocatalyst may also influence the charge reactions at the interface. Herein, we prepared amorphous LaNiO_x and crystalline La-doped NiO (c-LaNiO_x) cocatalysts through photochemical decomposition and ion-exchange of Ni(OH)₂ precipitation, respectively. Both lanthanum nickel oxides (LaNiO_x) showed considerable improvement of hematite photoanodes. By using electrochemical impedance measurements, we confirmed that the catalyst could store photogenerated charges with reduced transfer resistance and passivate the surface state, resulting in the overall charge transfer rate enhancement. This study may lead to a chance to uncover the kinetic bottleneck with an efficient cocatalyst in well-controlled crystallinity in the future.