Umair Baig1, Abuzar Khan2, Mohammad A Gondal3, Mohamed A Dastageer3, Wail S Falath1,4. 1. Center of Research Excellence in Desalination & Water Treatment and Center for Environment and Water, King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals, Dhahran 31261, Saudi Arabia. 2. Center for Research Excellence in Nanotechnology, King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals, Dhahran 31261, Saudi Arabia. 3. Department of Physics and Center for Research Excellence in Nanotechnology, King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals, Dhahran 31261, Saudi Arabia. 4. Department of Mechanical Engineering, King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals, Dhahran 31261, Saudi Arabia.
Abstract
A visible-light-active nickel oxide-graphitic carbon nitride (NiO@g-CN) hetero-structured nanocomposite was synthesized for the first time by pulsed laser ablation in liquid and used as a photoanode material in photoelectrochemical water-splitting reaction with a solar simulator. It was found that the photoelectrochemical performance of PLAL synthesized NiO@g-CN nanocomposite as photoanode, compared to g-CN as photoanode showed fourfold enhancements in photocurrent density under visible light. FT-IR, XRD, FE-SEM, and EDX consistently showed the proper anchoring of nano-sized NiO on g-CN. UV-DRS and the band gap estimation showed the narrowing down of the band gap energy and consequent enhancement in the visible-light absorption, whereas photoluminescence spectroscopy confirmed the reduction of the recombination of photo-excited electron hole pairs as a result of the anchoring of NiO on g-CN. The photoelectrochemical performance of g-CN and the NiO@g-CN nanocomposite photoanodes was compared by linear sweep voltammetry (LSV), Chronoamperometry (I-t), and Electrochemical Impedance Spectroscopy (EIS). All of these results of the characterization studies account for the observed fourfold enhancement of photocurrent density of NiO@g-CN nanocomposite as photoanode in the photoelectrochemical reaction.
A visin class="Chemical">bpan>le-light-active n class="Chemical">nickel oxide-n class="Chemical">graphitic carbon nitride (NiO@g-CN) hetero-structured nanocomposite was synthesized for the first time by pulsed laser ablation in liquid and used as a photoanode material in photoelectrochemical water-splitting reaction with a solar simulator. It was found that the photoelectrochemical performance of PLAL synthesized NiO@g-CN nanocomposite as photoanode, compared to g-CN as photoanode showed fourfold enhancements in photocurrent density under visible light. FT-IR, XRD, FE-SEM, and EDX consistently showed the proper anchoring of nano-sized NiO on g-CN. UV-DRS and the band gap estimation showed the narrowing down of the band gap energy and consequent enhancement in the visible-light absorption, whereas photoluminescence spectroscopy confirmed the reduction of the recombination of photo-excited electron hole pairs as a result of the anchoring of NiO on g-CN. The photoelectrochemical performance of g-CN and the NiO@g-CN nanocomposite photoanodes was compared by linear sweep voltammetry (LSV), Chronoamperometry (I-t), and Electrochemical Impedance Spectroscopy (EIS). All of these results of the characterization studies account for the observed fourfold enhancement of photocurrent density of NiO@g-CN nanocomposite as photoanode in the photoelectrochemical reaction.
Entities:
Keywords:
PEC water splitting; nanocomposites; pulsed laser ablation; visible-light-active photocatalyst
Authors: Umesh P Gawai; Shilpa D Kamble; Sanjay K Gurav; Manvendra N Singh; Ashok K Yadav; Shambhu N Jha; Niranjan P Lalla; Milind R Bodke; Mahendra D Shirsat; Babasaheb N Dole Journal: ACS Omega Date: 2022-02-14