A Synergistic Effect of Surfactant and ZrO2 Underlayer on Photocurrent Enhancement and Cathodic Shift of Nanoporous Fe2O3 Photoanode.

ABSTRACT: Augmenting the donor density and nanostructure engineering are the crucial points to improve solar water oxidation performance of hematite (α-Fe2O3). This work addresses the sluggish water oxidation reaction associated with hematite photoanode by tweaking its internal porosity. The porous hematite photoanodes are fabricated by a novel synthetic strategy via pulse reverse electrodeposition (PRED) method that involves incorporation of a cationic CTAB surfactant in a sulfate electrolyte and spin-coated ZrO2 underlayer (UL) on FTO. CTAB is found to be beneficial in promoting the film growth rate during PRED. Incorporation of Zr(4+) ions from ZrO2 UL and Sn(4+) ions from FTO into the Fe2O3 lattice via solid-state diffusion reaction during pertinent annihilation of surfactant molecules at 800 °C

SUBMITTER: Shinde PS 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5006030 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature