Enhanced photocurrent density of hematite thin films on FTO substrates: effect of post-annealing temperature

Abstract

Fluorine doped tin oxide (FTO) is widely used as a substrate in the synthesis of a photo-reactive semiconductor electrode for solar water splitting. The hematite film on the surface of the FTO substrate annealed at 700 °C showed an enhanced photocurrent value with a maximum photocurrent of 0.39 mA cm(-2) at 1.23 V vs. RHE under 1 sun illumination. This is a much enhanced photocurrent value of the hematite films than that of those annealed at temperatures lower than 700 °C. This is a promising approach for the enhancement of the photoelectrochemical properties of metal oxide thin films. This work reports on the mechanism of the annealing process of the synthesized hematite film to enhance the photocurrent value. Furthermore, this can be used for the enhanced efficiency of the solar water splitting reaction.

Tin and Oxygen-Vacancy Co-doping into Hematite Photoanode for Improved Photoelectrochemical Performances

“…It should be noted that the label of "0% doping" in the manuscript just means no extra element dopant in the precursor solution, but cannot guarantee that the prepared hematite is not doped. Because in the process of post-thermal annealing, the Sn in the FTO substrate can diffuse into the hematite, which is also widely observed by other reports [30]. So the sample labeled as 0% doping in this work in fact is also doped by Sn with a relative low level.…”

Synergies of co-doping in ultra-thin hematite photoanodes for solar water oxidation: In and Ti as representative case

“…66 The energy separation between Fe(2p 3/2 ) and Fe(2p 1/ 2 ) (D ¼ 13.5 eV) in both samples clearly supports the formation of pure Fe(III) oxide, as was already indicated by Raman spectroscopy. 66 In the case of Ti doping, the absence of any additional satellite peaks related to Fe 2+ at 730 or 715 eV indicates that Fe 2+ does not exist at the surface on doped samples aer Ti doping. 58 The O 1s XPS spectrum (Fig.…”

Solution-mediated nanometric growth of α-Fe2O3 with electrocatalytic activity for water oxidation

“…Indeed, a peak at around 719 eV, attributable to a Fe 2p 1/2 satellite of Fe 3+ , was pronounced after the reaction. 29,30 These changes demonstrate that the oxidation of Fe 2+ occurred by reactions with the NaNO 2 solution. Besides, the intensity of the Cl 2p peak ( Fig.…”