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Citation: Zhiquan YIN, Wenlong ZHEN, Xiaofeng NING, Zhengzhi HAN, Gongxuan LÜ. Mechanism of Al2O3 layer in enhancing the stability and activity of GaN for photocatalytic overall water splitting[J]. Chinese Journal of Inorganic Chemistry, ;2026, 42(7): 1523-1533. doi: 10.11862/CJIC.20260038 shu

Mechanism of Al2O3 layer in enhancing the stability and activity of GaN for photocatalytic overall water splitting

  • 1.

    State Key Laboratory of Low Carbon Catalysis and Carbon Dioxide Utilization, Lanzhou Institute of Chemical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Lanzhou 730000, China

  • 2.

    University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China

  • Corresponding author: Gongxuan LÜ, gxlu@lzb.ac.cn
  • Received Date: 5 February 2026
    Revised Date: 20 May 2026

Figures(11)

  • Herein, a stable Al2O3/GaN photocatalyst with an Al2O3 surface stabilizing layer for water splitting was prepared by a sol-gel method. The Al2O3 layer suppressed both the photo-corrosion of GaN induced by nascent generated O2 and the consequent H2-O2 recombination reaction. Electrochemical analysis, distribution of relaxation time, and steady-state/transient fluorescence spectroscopy spectra demonstrated that the Al2O3 layer not only significantly enhances charge separation and transport efficiency and prolongs carrier lifetime, but also remarkedly reduces overpotential and accelerates surface reaction kinetics for water splitting. The Al2O3/GaN catalyst achieved overall water splitting under full-spectrum irradiation and maintained stable performance for over 9 h without decay.
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