Corrosion-Resistant MoO₃/Fe₂O₃/MoS₂ Heterojunctions Stabilize OH^- Adsorption for Efficient Light-Assisted Seawater...

Direct seawater electrolysis holds promise for sustainable hydrogen production, yet challenges such as severe chlorine corrosion on the anode and high energy barriers for oxygen evolution reaction (OER) limit its operational time and efficiency. Herein, we present MoO₃/Fe₂O₃/MoS₂ heterojunctions to mitigate chlorine-induced corrosion and achieve effective photoelectric synergy. The in situ leached MoO₄^2- and SO₄^2- inhibitors reduce Cl^- adsorption, thereby ensuring high OER selectivity, while the MoO₃/Fe₂O₃/MoS₂ balances the repelling effects of these inhibitors, facilitating OH^- adsorption and widening the overpotential gap between water oxidation and chlorine oxidation. The MoO₃/Fe₂O₃/MoS₂ catalyst outperforms its Fe₂O₃ counterpart in terms of lifespan, maintaining stability at 100 and 300 mA cm^-2 for 100 and 500 h, respectively. Additionally, built-in electric fields formed at the interfaces lower interfacial resistance and extend the lifetime of photogenerated carriers by 1.47-fold, allowing for a 20.4% increase in seawater OER current density under light irradiation. Our findings offer a viable strategy for designing high-performance electrocatalysts for light-assisted seawater electrolysis.