Photoelectrochemical Water Splitting with Mesoporous Hematite Prepared by a Solution-Based Colloidal Approach

Sustainable hydrogen production through photoelectrochemical water splitting using hematite (alpha-Fe(2)O(3)) is a promising approach for the chemical storage of solar energy, but is complicated by the material's nonoptimal optoelectronic properties. Nanostructuring approaches have been shown to increase the performance of hematite, but the ideal nanostructure giving high efficiencies for all absorbed light wavelengths remains elusive. Here, we report for the first time mesoporous hematite photoelectodes prepared by a solution-based colloidal method which yield water-splitting photocurrents of 0.56 mA cm(-2) under standard conditions (AM 1.5G 100 mW cm(-2), 1.23 V vs reversible hydrogen electrode, RHE) and…