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Thermally-enhanced charge collection boosts photoelectrochemical performance of hematite |
| Yujie Wang(王玉杰)1,†, Xu Cheng(程旭)2,†, Jialin Shao(邵嘉琳)1, Xugang Qi(漆旭刚)1, Jia Zhao(赵嘉)1, Lu Yang(杨露)1, Youwei Zhang(张有为)3,‡, Bonan Zhu(朱博南)2,§, and Zemin Zhang(张泽民)1,¶ |
1 School of Physical Science and Technology, Key Laboratory of Special Functional Materials and Devices, Ministry of Education, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou 730000, China;
2 School of Aerospace Engineering, Beijing Institute of Technology, Beijing 100081, China;
3 School of Physics, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430074, China |
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Abstract The application of transition metal oxides in optoelectronics holds significant promise. However, their performance is often limited by small polaron hopping, a charge transport mechanism that reduces carrier mobility and collection efficiency. Therefore, improving small polaron hopping is crucial for enhancing charge collection. In this work, we propose a direct approach to effectively enhance the photoelectrochemical (PEC) performance of hematite by leveraging the thermal nature of polaron hopping. As a result, a photocurrent density of 4.53 mA/cm$^{2}$ at 1.23 V vs. RHE was achieved by heating the photoanode to 70 ${^\circ}$C. By combining carrier dynamics analysis with charge collection modeling, we demonstrate that heating facilitates small polaron hopping, thereby increasing carrier mobility and improving the collection efficiency of hematite photoanodes. Our work provides clear explanations of the thermal-activated small polaron hopping mechanism, offering a simple yet effective strategy for enhancing the PEC performance of transition metal oxides.
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Received: 02 December 2025
Revised: 08 January 2026
Accepted manuscript online: 14 January 2026
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PACS:
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82.80.Fk
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(Electrochemical methods)
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81.05.Zx
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(New materials: theory, design, and fabrication)
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84.60.Jt
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(Photoelectric conversion)
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64.70.ph
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(Nonmetallic glasses (silicates, oxides, selenides, etc.))
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| Fund: The authors acknowledge support from the National Key Research and Development Program of China (Grant No. 2022YFC2204101), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 5257022607), the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (Grant No. lzujbky- 2025-ytC02), and the Key Research and Development Program of Gansu Province (Grant No. 24YFGA005). |
Corresponding Authors:
Youwei Zhang, Bonan Zhu, Zemin Zhang
E-mail: youweizhang@hust.edu.cn;bzhu@bit.edu.cn;zhangzemin@lzu.edu.cn
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Cite this article:
Yujie Wang(王玉杰), Xu Cheng(程旭), Jialin Shao(邵嘉琳), Xugang Qi(漆旭刚), Jia Zhao(赵嘉), Lu Yang(杨露), Youwei Zhang(张有为), Bonan Zhu(朱博南), and Zemin Zhang(张泽民) Thermally-enhanced charge collection boosts photoelectrochemical performance of hematite 2026 Chin. Phys. B 35 058201
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