SiC nanowires composite electrode

Accepted Manuscript Facile fabrication and efficient photoelectrochemical watersplitting activity of electrodeposited nickel/SiC nanowires composite electrode

Min Jiang, Zhaoxiang Liu, Lijuan Ding, Jianjun Chen PII: DOI: Reference:

S1566-7367(17)30125-5 doi: 10.1016/j.catcom.2017.04.003 CATCOM 4988

To appear in:

Catalysis Communications

Received date: Revised date: Accepted date:

14 December 2016 17 February 2017 2 April 2017

Please cite this article as: Min Jiang, Zhaoxiang Liu, Lijuan Ding, Jianjun Chen , Facile fabrication and efficient photoelectrochemical water-splitting activity of electrodeposited nickel/SiC nanowires composite electrode. The address for the corresponding author was captured as affiliation for all authors. Please check if appropriate. Catcom(2017), doi: 10.1016/j.catcom.2017.04.003

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ACCEPTED MANUSCRIPT Facile fabrication and efficient photoelectrochemical electrodeposited nickel/SiC nanowires composite electrode

water-splitting activity

of

Min Jiang, Zhaoxiang Liu, Lijuan Ding, Jianjun Chen * Department of Materials Engineering, College of Materials and Textile, Zhejiang

*

Corresponding author:

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E−mail: [email protected]; Tel: +86−571−86843265

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Sci-Tech University, Hangzhou 310018, PR China

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ABSTRACT:

The

nickel-SiC

nanowires

composite electrode

with

high photoelectrocatalytic activity for water splitting in alkaline solution was fabricated via constant current electrodeposition. Compared with pristine SiC nanowires, this photocathode with a three-dimensional porous structure produced a

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current density of -32.4 mA·cm-2 at 1.4 V vs. Ag/AgCl. The enhanced performance was ascribed to efficient photogenerated carriers separation resulting from the

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heterostructure interface of Ni metal and SiC semiconductor. Moreover, this photocathode showed high stability in KOH solution over 600 s’ continuous reaction,

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which suggests a promising application in alkaline conditions for photocatalysis and

Ni/SiC

nanowires

composite

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Keywords:

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PEC water splitting.

electrode;

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Electrodeposition; Photoelectric property; Water splitting

2

Nickel

particles;

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1. Introduction Photoelectroche mical (PEC) water splitting driven by solar energy is a feasible approach to H2 evolutio n, converting solar energy into environme ntal and storable fuel. There have been a lot of reports focus ing on the hydrogen due

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to its remarkable role as the non-polluting substitute for fossil fuel [1- 4]. Using high active materials is a necessary way to make water splitting e ffic ient.

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Although platinum group metals are the best hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) catalysts, their cost is very high [5, 6]. On the other hand, acidic solutions are

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required for the majority of non- noble metal-based H 2 evolution electrocatalysts, most of whic h are not photoresponse materia ls [7, 8]. Therefore, the

in alkaline solution,

is

an

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develop ment of inexpens ive and highly effic ient photoelectrodes, working essentia l

challenge

[9].

Designing

a

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metal-semiconductor photoelectrode is one of the approaches to accomplish this goal.

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Silicon carbide (SiC) with suitable bandgap (2.36 eV) attains great attentio n for its gorgeous che mica l stability, excellent electroche mica l perfor mance, and

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physica l properties. Feng et al. [10] reported that the current density was -10 mA•cm-2 at 0.3 V vs. RHE in 1 M KOH, using nickel-coated silicon photocathode. Ibadilla h A. Digdaya et al. [11] promoted the photocurrent

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density to - 14 mA•cm-2 at 0 V vs. RHE in 1 M KOH by coating the Ni/Ni–Mo dual- catalyst on the amorphous SiC photocathode. Bulk and film of the SiC have also been applied as photocatalysts for water splitting [12-14]. SiC nanowires, with extraordinar y electroche mical perfor mance and high che mical stability in the alkaline solutio n, stand out fro m one-dime nsio nal materials, showing great prospect for the fabrication of water splitting devices [15-17]. Wang et al [18] reported that the average H2 evolutio n rate of Pt/SiC nanowires photocatalyst was increased to 204 μmol•g−1 •h−1 . Among tremendous electrocatalytic materials on hydrogen ge neratio n fro m water electrolys is, nickel attracts most attentio n for its high electrocatalytic 3

ACCEPTED MANUSCRIPT activity towards HER and its low cost. Further more, as a co-catalyst for water splitting, nickel can be considered as an acceptor of pho toelectrons, separating photogenerated charge carriers and promoting correspond ing photocatalytic activity

effic iently

[19- 22].

Modifying

the

surface

of

semiconductor

nanopartic le with metal is a wise way to improve the separation and move ment

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of photo- generated electrons because the potentia l gradient at the co mposite interface can appear with the help of the distinctio n in the band edge positions

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[23-26].

In this report, a novel electrode was fabricated by constant current

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electrodeposition with nickel deposit ing on the sur face of SiC nanowires film. And the PEC property of this electrode was investigated in KOH aqueous

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solutio ns in darkroo m and under illumination, to test linear scanning volta mmetry cur ves and analyze the effect of deposition time on the

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morphology of Ni/SiC nanowires composite electrode. 2. Experimental

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2.1 Synthesis of Ni/SiC nanowires composite electrode The SiC nanowires film on graphite substrate was synthesized by sol- gel

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carbother mal reductio n method as our earlier report depicted [27, 28]. The Ni/SiC nanowires composite electrode was fabricated via constant current electrodeposition in an aqueous solution containing NiSO 4 .6H2 O (75 g/L),

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NiCl2 ·6H2 O (11.25 g/L), and H3 BO3 (11.25 g/L). The current density and pH were set to 8 mA/c m2 and 4.5 respective ly. At first, Nickel foam was cleaned by acetone in ultrasonic for 10 min and then etched by HCl solution for 20 min to re move the oxide surface. Fina lly, it was rinsed with deionized water and absolute ethyl alcohol repeatedly. SiC nanowires film (exposed area of 1.0 cm2 ), working as the cathode, was electro-cleaned and then pickled in an aqueous solutio n containing 0.5 M HNO 3 and 0.5 M H2 SO4 to activate the surface. Nickel foam with equa l exposed surface area was used as an anode. The cathode and anode were placed parallel at 5 cm distance during plating. 2.2 Characterization 4

ACCEPTED MANUSCRIPT The morphology of the products was characterized by fie ld e miss ion scanning electron microscopy (FESEM, Hitachi, S- 4800, Japan). The phase morpho logy o f the products was characterized by X- ray diffraction (XRD, Bruker, D8- Discover, Germa n) at a scan rate of 4 °/min within a range fro m 10° to 80°, and the energy dispersive spectrum (EDS) was recorded on an

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EDAX-4800. The accelerating voltage and working c urrent were 12.5 kV and 20.0 mA, respectively.

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The PEC perfor mance of the sa mples was estimated through linear sweep volta mmetry (LSV), which was carried out in a standard three-electrode

(CH1660C,

Chenhua

Instrument,

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electrochemical cell in 1 M KOH on the electroche mica l workstation Shanghai,

China).

Ni/SiC

nanowires

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co mposite electrode was the working electrode and Ag/AgCl electrode was the reference electrode, using the Pt plate as the counter electrode. All

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electrochemical measurements were carried out at room temperature. 3. Results and discussion

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3.1 Structural characterization of Ni/SiC nanowires composite electrode Fig. 1 displayed the XRD pattern of the Ni/SiC nanowires composite

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electrode. The three major diffraction peaks, approximately located at 35.8°, 60.1° and 71.9° could be indexed to 3C-SiC (ICDD Data, JCPDS Card No. 29- 1129) and peaks at 44.50°, 51.85°, and 71.87° were identical to the phase of

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Ni crystalline (ICDD Data, JCPDS Card No. 87-0712). Influenced by the diffraction planes of graphite substrate (002), there was a strong peak located at 27° [29]. The s mall shoulder marked with SF was due to the stacking faults [30]. All these observatio ns indicate that the Ni/SiC nanowire co mposite electrode on graphite substrate was for med through the electrodeposition process.

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Fig. 1 XRD pattern of the graphite paper-supported Ni/SiC electrode The morphology of the electrode was characterized by Fie ld e miss ion

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scanning electron microscope (FESEM). Fig. S1 indicated that pristine SiC nanowires film had a uniform thickness, several hundreds of micro meters in

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length, and s mooth sur face with the length of several microns (in the inset of Fig. S1). The cotton- shaped SiC nanowires film possessed a thickness of 30-50

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μm, intertwisting together for ming a porous structure. Meanwhile, it was not easy to peel SiC nanowires film off from the graphite paper substrate. Ni was observed on the surface of SiC nanowires uniformly, with dia meters in the

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range of 200-300 nm, as Fig. 2 showed. The che mical co mposition of Ni/SiC nanowires composite electrode was checked by EDS (in the inset of Fig.2a). The sample consisted of four ele ments-- Si, C, O and Ni, indicating the successful attachment of Ni particles deposited on the surface of SiC nanowires.

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Fig.2 (a) Low (inset: EDS of Ni/SiC) and (b) high (inset: higher magnification FESEM image) magnification FESEM images of Ni/SiC electrode with the deposition time of 4 min

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Fig. S2 in the supporting infor matio n was UV- vis absorption spectra of nickel- SiC nanowires composite electrode (deposited for 4 min), using 300 W

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Xe lamp without a UV- light filter. The pristine SiC nanowires film s howed weak absorption in the UV and vis ible regio ns (Black line). Compared with the

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pristine SiC nanowires, the electrode exhibited better absorption and efficie ncy of the vis ible light ascrib ing to the absorption of Ni (Red line). The curve in the

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range of 500- 800 nm had an upward shift, leading to enhance me nt of absorption, which could be explained by stacking faults or the surface oxidation

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level of SiC nanowires.

3.2 Effect of deposition time on morphology of Ni/SiC nanowires composite electrode

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Fig. S3 illustrated the FESEM ima ges of the products deposited at different deposition time. Compared with pristine SiC nano wires (Fig. S3a), there were few Ni particles deposit ing on the SiC nanowires film at the deposition time of 2 min (Fig. S3b). Whe n the deposition time was 4 min, there were a lot of Ni particles with the dia meter ranging fro m 200 nm to 300 nm (Fig. S3c). And when the depositio n time was 8 min, the fabricated nanowires layer was very dense and had a clustered structure with Ni partic les gradually extending along the pla ne (Fig. S3d). Fro m the different morphologies of different deposition time, it suggested that with the depositio n time extending fro m 2 min to 8 min, the density and thickness of the nanowires layer augmented gradually. 7

ACCEPTED MANUSCRIPT 3.3 Photoelectric property of Ni/SiC nanowires composite electrode Linear sweep volta mmetry (LSV) was conducted in 1 M KOH solutio n at 25 ℃ at a scan rate of 2 mV·s −1 (Fig. 3). When the deposition time was 4 min, photocurrent density reached the max imum (-32.5 mA·cm -2 ) which was over 10 times than that of pristine SiC nanowires (-3 mA·cm -2 ). The electrode with the

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porous structure owned larger sur face area in comparison with the general nano materials. So it could provide more active sites to improve the transition of

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photogenerated electrons, pushing the reaction restricted by the intr ins ic defect, which is good to the high- efficie ncy HER [31]. And compared w ith other

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electrode materia ls, the electrode exhib ited higher current density in the alkaline solutio ns (Table S1). Further more, due to the lower Fer mi level of Ni,

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the photo- generated electrons in the conductive band of SiC nanowires coated by Ni could be captured by the Ni partic les with holes rema ining in the vale nce

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band of SiC. So they could trans fer from S iC nanowires film to Ni partic les quickly, restraining the electron- hole pair recomb ination of SiC nanowires and

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contrib uting more active sites for photocatalysis. The possible catalytic active sites of the electrode were Si edges whic h offer the locations for the transfer of

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the electrons [30]

Fig. 3 LSV curves for the Ni-SiC electrode with the different deposition time (a) 2 min, (b) 4min, (c) 8 min in 1 M KOH solution under the irradiation. It was noteworthy that the photocurrent densities of Ni/SiC nanowires co mposite electrode increased first and then decreased with the increasing 8

ACCEPTED MANUSCRIPT amount of Ni partic les. When the deposition time was 8 min, photocurrent density decreased about 20 mA·cm-2 , resulting fro m the reduction of active sites. The active sites were covered by the excessive Ni, limiting the absorption of photons for SiC nanowires, causing the reductio n of photo- generated electrons. Moreover, taking the size of Ni into account, we analyzed the size

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distributio n of Ni deposited for 4 min due to its excelle nt photoactivity (Fig. S4). The result revealed that the electrode showed great photocatalytic property

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when the size was about 200-300 nm.

Fig. 4a exhib ited the contrast tests of Ni/SiC nanowires co mposite

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electrode (deposited for 4 min) in the reaction (in darkroo m and under irradiation). It could be seen that current dens ity had an obvio us positive shift,

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showing better photoelectric performance. Under the irradiation of the simulated light (Curve a), the current dens ity of the electrode at 1.4 V bias

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potential was about twice higher than that in darkroom (Curve b). In additio n, cut- in voltage decreased about 0.2 V from 1.1 V (in darkroo m) to 0.9 V (under

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irradiation). Optical and electrical properties were improved a lot for the reason that a lot of photo-generated electrons generated under irradiation and then

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transferred to Ni nanoparticles fleetly. On the other hand, the external voltage drove the photo-generated electron-hole

pair

electrons to the

recombination

of

SiC

cathode,

nanowires

restraining and

the

enhancing

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photocatalytic activities. After 600 s’ continuous reaction at 1.4 V vs. Ag/AgCl (Fig. 4b), no matter in which condition (under irradiation or in darkroo m) was this electrode measured, the current density of a lways re mained uncha nged, suggesting an extravagant catalytic stability for the HER in alkaline solutions.

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Fig. 4a LSV curves for the Ni/SiC (deposition time of 4min) electrode in 1 M KOH solution under irradiation (a) in darkroom (b) Fig. 4b Photocurrent vs. time curves for the Ni/SiC (deposition time of 4min) electrodes in 1 M KOH solution under irradiation (a) in darkroom (b) 3.4 Mechanism of Ni/SiC nanowires composite electrode

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Fig. 5 shows a possible mechanis m of photocatalyst over the Ni/SiC nanowires co mposite electrode. Only when the energy absorbing from the

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visible light is higher than the SiC bandgap value can the electrons be ex cited, jumping from v alence band to conduction band captured by Ni, leaving holes

the redox reactions

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on the valence band. Whe n the electrons meet the H2 O, they can participate in together producing H 2 .

What’s more,

under the

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circumstance of applied voltage, the photo- generated electrons and holes can be separated more effic iently leading to the move ment of e lectrons to the surface of SiC nanowires film electrode, which contributes to the for mation of the

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Schottky barrier, restraining the electron- hole pair recomb ination. The confluence of vis ible light and applied voltage can restrain the reco mbination of electron- hole pairs and promote the electrons moving to the cathode, stimulating the HER efficiently.

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Fig. 5 Mechanism diagram of photoelectrocatalytic over the Ni/SiC electrode

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4. Conclusion

In conclus ion, Ni/SiC nanowires co mposite electrode is synthesized via

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constant current electrodepositio n. When the deposition time is 4 min, Ni nanopartic les have the dia meters in the range of 200- 300 nm. And the electrode

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exhibits extraordinary photoelectric property owing to the fleet mo ve ment of photogenerated electrons, restraining the reco mbination of electron- hole pair.

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Moreover, the photoelectrocatalytic water splitting process for effic ient hydrogen production is attributed to the photoelectrochemical actions on the

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Ni-terminated surface of SiC nanowires film and the drive of applied voltage. So the photo current density reaches about -32.4 mA•cm-2 in 1 M KOH solution and photoelectrochemical stability remains stable after 600 s ’ continuous reaction at

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1.4 V vs. Ag/AgCl. Therefore, they can serve as a promis ing material in the alkaline condition of a variety of solar energy driven applications. Acknowledgment

This work is supported by the National Nature Science Foundation of the People’s Republic of China (No. 51572243), the Zhejiang Provincial Natural Science Foundation (No. LY15E020012), 521 Talent Training Plan of Zhejiang Sci- Tech University and the Young Researchers Foundation of Zhejiang Provincial Top Key Academic Discipline of Chemical Engineering and Technology, Zhejiang Sci- Tech University (ZYG2015006). 11

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ACCEPTED MANUSCRIPT Highlights



Ni/SiC nanowires composite electrode was made by constant current electrodeposition.



Three-dimensional porous structure

can promote

the separation of

electron-hole pair. Current density at 1.4 V vs. Ag/AgCl was -32.4 mA·cm-2 in 1 M KOH.



High stability in KOH solution was found over 600 s’ continuous reaction.

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