Depositing a transition-metal hydroxide (TMH) layer on a photoanode has been demonstrated to enhance photoelectrochemical (PEC) water oxidation. However, the controversial understanding for the improvement origin remains a key challenge to unlock the PEC performance. Herein, by taking BiVO4 /iron-nickel hydroxide (BVO/Fx N4-x -H) as a prototype, we decoupled the PEC process into two processes including charge transfer and surface catalytic reaction. The kinetic information at the BVO/Fx N4-x -H and Fx N4-x -H/electrolyte interfaces was systematically evaluated by employing scanning photoelectrochemical microscopy (SPECM), intensity modulated photocurrent spectroscopy (IMPS) and oxygen evolution reaction (OER) model. It was found that Fx N4-x -H acts as a charge transporter rather than a sole electrocatalyst. PEC performance improvement is mainly ascribed to the efficient suppression of charge recombination by fast hole transfer kinetics at BVO/Fx N4-x -H interface.
Keywords: charge transfer; interfaces; photoelectrochemistry; surface catalysis; transition-metal hydroxides.
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