Photoelectrochemical Performance of a CuBi<sub>2</sub>O<sub>4</sub> Photocathode with H<sub>2</sub>O<sub>2</sub> as a Scavenger
Zohreh Masoumi,
Mahdi Tayebi,
S. Ahmad Masoumi Lari,
Bongkuk Seo,
Choong-Sun Lim,
Hyeon-Gook Kim,
Daeseung Kyung,
Meysam Tayebi
Affiliations
Zohreh Masoumi
Department of Civil and Environment Engineering, University of Ulsan, Daehakro 93, Nam-gu, Ulsan 44610, Republic of Korea
Mahdi Tayebi
Department of Energy Engineering and Physics, Amirkabir University of Technology, Tehran 15875-4413, Iran
S. Ahmad Masoumi Lari
Department of Biology, York University, Farquharson Life Sciences Building, Ottawa Rd, Toronto, ON M3J 1P3, Canada
Bongkuk Seo
Center for Advanced Specialty Chemical, Division of Specialty and Bio-Based Chemicals Technology, Korea Research Institute of Chemical Technology (KRICT), 45 Jonggaro, Ulsan 44412, Republic of Korea
Choong-Sun Lim
Center for Advanced Specialty Chemical, Division of Specialty and Bio-Based Chemicals Technology, Korea Research Institute of Chemical Technology (KRICT), 45 Jonggaro, Ulsan 44412, Republic of Korea
Hyeon-Gook Kim
Center for Advanced Specialty Chemical, Division of Specialty and Bio-Based Chemicals Technology, Korea Research Institute of Chemical Technology (KRICT), 45 Jonggaro, Ulsan 44412, Republic of Korea
Daeseung Kyung
Department of Civil and Environment Engineering, University of Ulsan, Daehakro 93, Nam-gu, Ulsan 44610, Republic of Korea
Meysam Tayebi
Center for Advanced Specialty Chemical, Division of Specialty and Bio-Based Chemicals Technology, Korea Research Institute of Chemical Technology (KRICT), 45 Jonggaro, Ulsan 44412, Republic of Korea
Photoelectrochemical (PEC) water splitting is an eco-friendly method for producing clean and sustainable hydrogen fuels. Compared with the fabrication of solar hydrogen using n-type metal oxide semiconductor photoanodes, that of solar hydrogen using p-type metal oxide semiconductor photocathodes has not been researched as thoroughly. Therefore, this study investigated the effect of drop casting time on the PEC performance of a prepared CuBi2O4 photocathode. XPS, HRTEM, UV-DRS, Raman spectroscopy, XRD, and SEM analyses were used to characterize the prepared CuBi2O4 photocathode. Owing to the high charge separation and transfer, the photocurrent density of the CuBi2O4 photocathode was ~0.6 mA cm−2 at 0.3 V vs. RHE. The nanoporous CuBi2O4 photocathode exhibited a high photocurrent density of up to 1.2 mA cm−2 at 0.3 V vs. RHE with H2O2 as a sacrificial agent. Mott–Schottky and impedance measurements were also performed on the CuBi2O4 photocathode to estimate its acceptor density and charge-transfer resistance.
