ISSN print edition: 0366-6352 ISSN electronic edition: 1336-9075 Registr. No.: MK SR 9/7 Published monthly

Effects of pH on the light-induced photoelectrochemical performances of NiO/ZrO₂ nanoparticles

Yongjian Liu, Xuebing Liu, Rui Liu, Shuang Chang, and Dongmei Wu

Department of Stomatology, Taihe Hospital, Hubei University of Medicine, Shiyan, People’s Republic of China

E-mail: wdm10250809@163.com

Received: 16 July 2022  Accepted: 4 November 2022

Abstract:

This paper proposes the use of NiO to modify ZrO₂ to obtain a higher photoelectrochemical (PEC) efficiency. A ZrO₂ photoelectrode was synthesized via electrodeposition, and the photocurrent density of the resulting photoelectrode was investigated using a pH electrolyte solution. The NiO/ZrO₂ photoelectrode demonstrated increased PEC performance when used as a p–p junction photocathode. At pH = 2.8, the photocurrent density of the NiO/ZrO₂ photoelectrode was 7.78 μA/cm², which was roughly 2.5 times greater than that of ZrO₂ (0.2 V vs SCE). The development of a p–p junction at the photoelectrode surface of ZrO₂ minimized electron–hole pair recombination while increasing the PEC.

Keywords: Photoelectrochemical; p–p junction; NiO/ZrO2; Electron–hole pairs

Full paper is available at www.springerlink.com.

DOI: 10.1007/s11696-022-02582-6

Chemical Papers 77 (4) 1879–1886 (2023)