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2019 (English)In: ACS APPLIED NANO MATERIALS, E-ISSN 2574-0970, Vol. 2, no 1, p. 334-342Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]
Photoelectrochemical (PEC) water splittingreactions are promising for sustainable hydrogen productionfrom renewable sources. We report here, the preparation of α-Fe2O3/Fe3O4 composite films via a single-step chemical vapordeposition of [Fe(OtBu)3]2 and their use as efficient photoanode materials in PEC setups. Film thickness and phase segregation was controlled by varying the deposition time and corroborated through cross-section Raman spectroscopy and scanning electron microscopy. The highest water oxidationactivity (0.48 mA/cm2 at 1.23 V vs RHE) using intermittent AM 1.5 G (100 mW/cm2) standard illumination was found forhybrid films with a thickness of 11 μm. This phenomenon is attributed to an improved electron transport resulting from ahigher magnetite content toward the substrate interface and an increased light absorption due to the hematite layer mainly located at the top surface of the film. The observed high efficiency of α-Fe2O3/Fe3O4 nanocomposite photoanodes is attributed to the close proximity and establishment of 3D interfaces between the weakly ferro- (Fe2O3) and ferrimagnetic (Fe3O4) oxides, which in view of their differential chemical constitution andvalence states of Fe ions (Fe2+/Fe3+) can enhance the charge separation and thus the overall electrical conductivity of the layer.
Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
American Chemical Society (ACS), 2019
Keywords
solar water splitting, valence dynamics, magnetite, Raman, single-source CVD, heterostructures
National Category
Composite Science and Engineering Chemical Process Engineering
Research subject
Experimental Physics; Chemical Technology
Identifiers
urn:nbn:se:ltu:diva-73139 (URN)10.1021/acsanm.8b01936 (DOI)000464491500036 ()2-s2.0-85065245957 (Scopus ID)
Note
Validerad;2019;Nivå 2;2019-03-13 (oliekm)
2019-03-082019-03-082023-05-06Bibliographically approved