Enhanced photocatalytic oxygen evolution activity by formation of Ir@IrOx(OH)(y) core- shell heterostructure

摘要

Developing efficient catalysts to accelerate the rate of oxygen evolution reaction (OER) is critical for photocatalytic water-splitting. In this work, metallic Ir, IrOx(OH)(y), and core-shell Ir@IrOx(OH)(y) were synthesized and employed as OER catalysts for photocatalytic water oxidation. It was found that the Ir@IrOx(OH)(y) core-shell heterostructure catalyst showed the best photocatalytic performance among these three catalysts, with the oxygen evolution rate as high as 59.63 mmolg(-1)h(-1). Detailed investigations revealed that the excellent photocatalytic activity of Ir@IrOx(OH)(y) could be attributed to both the outstanding intrinsic activity of IrOx(OH)(y) shell and the efficient electron transfer between the photosensitizer and catalyst.