Roberto Altieri, Fabian Schmitz, Manuel Schenker, Felix Boll, Luca Rebecchi, Pascal Schweitzer, Matteo Crisci, Ilka Kriegel, Bernd Smarsly, Derck Schlettwein, Francesco Lamberti, Teresa Gatti and Mengjiao Wang
{"title":"Development of an automated SILAR method for the sustainable fabrication of BiOI/TiO2 photoanodes†","authors":"Roberto Altieri, Fabian Schmitz, Manuel Schenker, Felix Boll, Luca Rebecchi, Pascal Schweitzer, Matteo Crisci, Ilka Kriegel, Bernd Smarsly, Derck Schlettwein, Francesco Lamberti, Teresa Gatti and Mengjiao Wang","doi":"10.1039/D4YA00405A","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p >BiOI is a promising material for use in photoelectrocatalytic water oxidation, renowned for its chemical inertness and safety in aqueous media. For device integration, BiOI must be fabricated into films. Considering future industrial applications, automated production is essential. However, current BiOI film production methods lack automation and efficiency. To address this, a continuous automated process is introduced in this study, named AutoDrop, for producing BiOI films. Autodrop results to be a fast and facile method for producing BiOI photoelectrodes. Nanostructured thin films of this layered material are prepared using a syringe pump to dispense the precursor solution onto a continuously spinning substrate. These films are integrated into a multilayered photoelectrode, featuring mesoporous TiO<small><sub>2</sub></small> as an electron-transporting layer on top of FTO glass. In testing the photoelectrochemical performance of the BiOI/TiO<small><sub>2</sub></small> photoelectrodes, the highest photocurrent (44 μA cm<small><sup>−2</sup></small>) is found for a heterojunction with a BiOI thickness of 320 nm. Additionally, a further protective TiO<small><sub>2</sub></small> ultrathin layer in contact with BiOI, grown by atomic layer deposition, enhances the durability and efficiency of the photoanode, resulting in a more than two-fold improvement in photocurrent after 2 hours of continuous operation. This study advances the automation in the sustainable production of photoelectrode films and provides inspiration for further developments in the field.</p>","PeriodicalId":72913,"journal":{"name":"Energy advances","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":3.2000,"publicationDate":"2024-09-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://pubs.rsc.org/en/content/articlepdf/2024/ya/d4ya00405a?page=search","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Energy advances","FirstCategoryId":"1085","ListUrlMain":"https://pubs.rsc.org/en/content/articlelanding/2024/ya/d4ya00405a","RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":null,"ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q2","JCRName":"CHEMISTRY, PHYSICAL","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
BiOI is a promising material for use in photoelectrocatalytic water oxidation, renowned for its chemical inertness and safety in aqueous media. For device integration, BiOI must be fabricated into films. Considering future industrial applications, automated production is essential. However, current BiOI film production methods lack automation and efficiency. To address this, a continuous automated process is introduced in this study, named AutoDrop, for producing BiOI films. Autodrop results to be a fast and facile method for producing BiOI photoelectrodes. Nanostructured thin films of this layered material are prepared using a syringe pump to dispense the precursor solution onto a continuously spinning substrate. These films are integrated into a multilayered photoelectrode, featuring mesoporous TiO2 as an electron-transporting layer on top of FTO glass. In testing the photoelectrochemical performance of the BiOI/TiO2 photoelectrodes, the highest photocurrent (44 μA cm−2) is found for a heterojunction with a BiOI thickness of 320 nm. Additionally, a further protective TiO2 ultrathin layer in contact with BiOI, grown by atomic layer deposition, enhances the durability and efficiency of the photoanode, resulting in a more than two-fold improvement in photocurrent after 2 hours of continuous operation. This study advances the automation in the sustainable production of photoelectrode films and provides inspiration for further developments in the field.