Research articles
ScienceAsia 52 (2026): 1-8 |doi:
10.2306/scienceasia1513-1874.2026.048
Enhancing the performance of Cu2
O photocathode by tuning
the band alignment for photoelectrochemical hydrogen
production
Xue Luana,b,*, Yongdan Lia,b, Cuijuan Zhanga,b
ABSTRACT: To alleviate the recombination of photo-generated charge carriers in the Cu2O photocathode, heterojunction MOx
/Cu2O (M = Zn, Ga, Al, Y) nanowire arrays were constructed by anodization and drop coating. The results
show that the performance of heterojunction is strongly dependent on the band alignment. Y2O3
/Cu2O showed the
smallest band offset and thus contributes to higher catalytic activity, with photocurrent density of ?4.08 mA cm?2
at 0 V
vs. reversible hydrogen electrode (RHE) under AM 1.5G illumination. Further studies reveal that the 600 ?C-calcined
Y2O3
/Cu2O showed the highest activity due to the synergistic effect of microstructure and electronic factors. In addition,
the heterojunction could improve the stability, with 68.1% retention of photocurrent density compared with 20.4%
for the bare one over 10 min-duration. This work demonstrates a facile strategy to tailor the photoelectrochemical
performance of Cu2O for hydrogen production
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| a |
Tianjin Key Laboratory of Applied Catalysis Science and Technology, State Key Laboratory of Chemical Engineering
(Tianjin University), School of Chemical Engineering and Technology, Tianjin University, Tianjin 300072 China |
| b |
Collaborative Innovation Center of Chemical Science and Engineering (Tianjin), Tianjin 300072 China |
* Corresponding author, E-mail: luan_233@163.com
Received 26 Aug 2025, Accepted 23 Apr 2026
|
