Plasmonic α-Fe_2O_3 Photoanodes for Solar Water Splitting

摘要

Semiconductor photoanodes used for solar-driven water splitting rely on photoelectrode construction from stable, nontoxic, earth abundant, and highly solar-to-hydrogen efficient materials. The medium-bandgap metal oxide semiconductor α-Fe_2O_3 functions as both a light absorber and an energy converter in these photoelec-trochemical systems. α-Fe_2O_3 is simultaneously required to be"physically thin" and "optically thick" for efficient solar energy-conversion. Unfortunately, there is always a tradeoff between these two requirements in practical devices. Plasmonic nanostructures supporting surface plasmon polaritons (SPPs) are promising to overcome this dilemma. We review the recent achievements of these plasmonic nanostructured metal/α-Fe_2O_3 photoanodes in solar-driven water splitting in this paper.