Transition-metal-doped Fe2O3 nanoparticles for oxygen evolution reaction

Hematite (α-Fe₂O₃) has been extensively studied as a promising photocatalyst, with the capacity to split water under visible light. To tune its electronic structure and improve the performance for oxygen evolution reaction (OER), high-quality single crystals of α-Fe₂O₃ nanoparticles were synthesized and doped by various transition metals (M=V, Cr, Mn, Zn, Co, Ni, Cu, Nb, Mo, Ti) by a molten-salt flux method. Optical, electronic and catalytic properties of transition-metal-doped α-Fe₂O₃ (TM-doped α-Fe₂O₃) have been systematically investigated. Cobalt has been identified as the best dopant for α-Fe₂O₃, reducing the OER overpotential by 0.16?V with respect to the undoped.