Issue 2, 2012

A quantitative assessment of the competition between water and anion oxidation at WO3 photoanodes in acidic aqueous electrolytes

Abstract

The faradaic efficiency for O2(g) evolution at thin-film WO3 photoanodes has been evaluated in a series of acidic aqueous electrolytes. In 1.0 M H2SO4, persulfate was the predominant photoelectrochemical oxidation product, and no O2 was detected unless catalytic quantities of Ag+(aq) were added to the electrolyte. In contact with 1.0 M HClO4, dissolved O2 was observed with nearly unity faradaic efficiency, but addition of a hole scavenger, 4-cyanopyridine N-oxide, completely suppressed O2 formation. In 1.0 M HCl, Cl2(g) was the primary oxidation product. These results indicate that at WO3 photoanodes, water oxidation is dominated by oxidation of the acid anions in 1.0 M HCl, H2SO4, and HClO4, respectively.

Graphical abstract: A quantitative assessment of the competition between water and anion oxidation at WO3 photoanodes in acidic aqueous electrolytes

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
19 Oct 2011
Accepted
07 Dec 2011
First published
03 Jan 2012

Energy Environ. Sci., 2012,5, 5694-5700

A quantitative assessment of the competition between water and anion oxidation at WO3 photoanodes in acidic aqueous electrolytes

Q. Mi, A. Zhanaidarova, B. S. Brunschwig, H. B. Gray and N. S. Lewis, Energy Environ. Sci., 2012, 5, 5694 DOI: 10.1039/C2EE02929D

To request permission to reproduce material from this article, please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

If you are an author contributing to an RSC publication, you do not need to request permission provided correct acknowledgement is given.

If you are the author of this article, you do not need to request permission to reproduce figures and diagrams provided correct acknowledgement is given. If you want to reproduce the whole article in a third-party publication (excluding your thesis/dissertation for which permission is not required) please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

Read more about how to correctly acknowledge RSC content.

Social activity

Spotlight

Advertisements