Enhancing Iron(III) Oxide Photoelectrochemical Water Splitting Performance Using Defect Engineering and Heterostructure Construction

Fe2O3 is a promising semiconductor for photoelectrochemical (PEC) water decomposition. However, severe charge recombination problems limit its applications. In this study, a F–Fe2O3–x/MoS2 nanorod array photoanode was designed and prepared to facilitate charge separation. Detailed characterization and experimental results showed that F doping in Fe2O3 regulated the electronic structure to improve the conductivity of Fe2O3 and induced abundant oxygen vacancies to increase the carrier concentration and promote charge separation in bulk. In addition, the internal electric field between F–Fe2O3–x and MoS2 facilitated the qualitative transfer of the photogenerated charge, thus inhibiting their recombination. The synergistic effect between the oxygen vacancy and F–Fe2O3–x/MoS2 heterojunction significantly enhanced the PEC performance of Fe2O3. This study provides a universal strategy for designing other photoanode materials with high-efficiency charge separation.