Abstract
Here, a Sb-doped SnO
(ATO) nanorod underneath an α-Fe
O
nanorod sheathed with TiO
for photoelectrochemical (PEC) water splitting is reported. The experimental results, corroborated with theoretical analysis, demonstrate that the ATO nanorod underlayer effect on the α-Fe
O
nanorod sheathed with TiO
enhances the PEC water splitting performance. The growth of the well-defined ATO nanorods is reported as a conductive underlayer to improve α-Fe
O
PEC water oxidation performance. The α-Fe
O
nanorods grown on the ATO nanorods exhibit improved performance for PEC water oxidation compared to α-Fe
O
grown on flat fluorine-doped tin oxide glass. Furthermore, a simple and facile TiCl
chemical treatment further introduces TiO
passivation layer formation on the α-Fe
O
to reduce surface recombination. As a result, these unique nanostructures show dramatically improved photocurrent density (139% higher than that of the pure hematite nanorods).