Nanostructured Zn-Fe2O3 thin film modified by Fe-TiO2 for photoelectrochemical generation of hydrogen

作者：Sharma Poonam; Kumar Praveen; Deva Dinesh; Shrivastav Rohit; Dass Sahab; Satsangi Vibha R^*

来源：International Journal of Hydrogen Energy, 2010, 35(20): 10883-10889.

DOI：10.1016/j.ijhydene.2010.07.016

• Photoelectrochemical
• Nanostructured
• Iron oxide
• Titanium dioxide
• Spray-pyrolysis
• Sol-gel

Nanostructured semiconductor thin films of Zn-Fe2O3 modified with underlying layer of Fe-TiO2 have been synthesized and studied as photoelectrode in photoelectrochemical (PEC) cell for generation of hydrogen through water splitting. The Zn-Fe2O3 thin film photoelectrodes were designed for best performance by tailoring thickness of the Fe-TiO2 film. A maximum photocurrent density of 748 mu A/cm(2) at 0.95 V/SCE and solar to hydrogen conversion efficiency of 0.47% was observed for 0.89 mu m thick modified photoelectrode in 1 M NaOH as electrolyte and under 1.5 AM solar simulator. To analyse the PEC results the films were characterized for various physical and semiconducting properties using XRD, SEM, EDX and UV-Visible spectrophotometer. Zn-Fe2O3 thin films modified with Fe-TiO2 exhibited improved visible light absorption. A noticeable change in surface morphology of the modified Zn-Fe2O3 film was observed as compared to the pristine Zn-Fe2O3 film. Flat-band potential values calculated from Mott-Schottky curves also supported the PEC response.

• 出版日期2010-10