Photocatalytic Activity of Ce-Doped Hematite for Hydrogen Production

Abstract

Hematite is one of the most promising photoanodes for water splitting, but its photoelectrochemical (PEC) efficiency is still low. This work proved that the PEC efficiency of hematite can be improved by Ce doping. The Ce doped hematite was successfully prepared by co-sputtering CeO2 and Fe2O3, and followed by thermal oxidation treatment. The results of J-V test showed that the photocurrent of 5 at.% Ce doped α-Fe2O3 film can reached 1.35mA/cm2 in 1 M NaOH (pH=13.6) at 1.23V vs. NHE, which is nearly 15 times higher than the undoped one. The enhancement of PEC efficiency was proved by the enhancement of absorbance of visible light, as well as increased carrier density after Ce doping.