Nanostructured CuO/SrTiO3 bilayered thin films for photoelectrochemical water splitting

作者：Choudhary Surbhi; Solanki Anjana; Upadhyay Sumant; Singh Nirupama; Satsangi Vibha R; Shrivastav Rohit; Dass Sahab^*

来源：Journal of Solid State Electrochemistry, 2013, 17(9): 2531-2538.

DOI：10.1007/s10008-013-2139-7

• Photoelectrochemical
• CuO/SrTiO3
• Bilayered
• Sol-gel spin-coating technique

Bilayered thin films of CuO/SrTiO3 with varying thickness of CuO were deposited by sol-gel spin-coating technique on indium tin oxide substrate and used as photoelectrode in the photoelectrochemical cell for water splitting reaction. Maximum photocurrent density of 1.85 mA/cm(2) at -0.9 V/saturated calomel electrode was exhibited by 590-nm-thick CuO/SrTiO3 bilayered photoelectrode, which is approximately eight times higher than that for CuO and 30 times higher than that for SrTiO3. The bilayered system offered increased photocurrent density and enhanced photoconversion efficiency, attributed to improved conductivity, which ameliorate separation of the photo-generated carriers at the CuO/SrTiO3 interface and higher value of flatband potential. Details about synthesis and various characterisations involving X-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscopy have been discussed. An energy band diagram has been proposed to dwell upon the mechanism of charge carrier transfer across the interface.

• 出版日期2013-9