Enhanced Water Oxidation Photoactivity of Nano-Architectured α-Fe2O3–WO3 Composite Synthesized by Single-Step Hydrothermal Method

This study reports the one-step in situ synthesis of a hematite–tungsten oxide (α-Fe 2 O 3 –WO 3 ) composite on fluorine-doped tin oxide substrate via a simple hydrothermal method. Scanning electron microscopy images indicated that the addition of tungsten (W) precursor into the reaction mixture alt...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of electronic materials 2018-04, Vol.47 (4), p.2359-2365
Main Authors: Rahman, Gul, Joo, Oh-Shim, Chae, Sang Youn, Shah, Anwar-ul-Haq Ali, Mian, Shabeer Ahmad
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Characterization and Evaluation of Materials
Chemistry and Materials Science
Electrodes
Electron microscopy
Electronics and Microelectronics
Fluorine
Hematite
Instrumentation
Iron oxides
Materials research
Materials Science
Nanocomposites
Nanorods
Optical and Electronic Materials
Oxidation
Photoelectric effect
Photoelectric emission
Scanning electron microscopy
Solid State Physics
Substrates
Tin oxides
Tungsten oxides
Visible spectrum
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Summary:This study reports the one-step in situ synthesis of a hematite–tungsten oxide (α-Fe 2 O 3 –WO 3 ) composite on fluorine-doped tin oxide substrate via a simple hydrothermal method. Scanning electron microscopy images indicated that the addition of tungsten (W) precursor into the reaction mixture altered the surface morphology from nanorods to nanospindles. Energy-dispersive x-ray spectroscopy analysis confirmed the presence of W content in the composite. From the ultraviolet–visible spectrum of α-Fe 2 O 3 –WO 3 , it was observed that absorption began at ∼ 600 nm which corresponded to the bandgap energy of ∼ 2.01 eV. The α-Fe 2 O 3 –WO 3 electrode demonstrated superior performance, with water oxidation photocurrent density of 0.80 mA/cm 2 (at 1.6 V vs. reversible hydrogen electrode under standard illumination conditions; AM 1.5G, 100 mW/cm 2 ) which is 2.4 times higher than α-Fe 2 O 3 (0.34 mA/cm 2 ). This enhanced water oxidation performance can be attributed to the better charge separation properties in addition to the large interfacial area of small-sized particles present in the α-Fe 2 O 3 –WO 3 nanocomposite film.
ISSN:0361-5235
1543-186X
DOI:10.1007/s11664-017-6059-7