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Annealing temperature-dependent crystallinity and photocurrent response of anodic nanoporous iron oxide film

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Abstract

The effects of annealing temperatures on the structure and photocurrent response of nanoporous iron oxide film prepared by anodization of iron foil in an ethylene glycol, NH4F, and H2O electrolyte were studied. The as-anodized anodic film was found to be rather amorphous and crystallized to predominantly α-Fe2O3 upon annealing in nitrogen. Nitrogen was used as to reduce the thickening of the barrier layer which affects the photocurrent response of the oxide. However, annealing must be done above 300 °C to produce crystalline oxide but must be kept lower than 500 °C since high temperature promotes grain growth, destroying the nanoporous structure and also thickens the barrier layer, which significantly reduce the photocurrent of the film. Sample annealed at 450 °C in nitrogen has the highest photocurrent of 1.04 mA/cm2 (0.5 V versus Ag/AgCl in 1 M NaOH) compared to 0.13 mA/cm2 at 0.5 V for air-annealed sample.

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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The authors are grateful for support by the ASEAN University Network/Southeast Asia Engineering Education Development Network (AUN/SEED-Net), Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA). Nanomaterials development is supported by OneBAJA Long Term Research Grant Scheme (LRGS), Ministry of Higher Education Malaysia, Project 2, 304/PBAHAN/6050235.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Green Electronics Nanomaterials Group, Science and Engineering of Nanomaterials Team, School of Materials and Mineral Resources, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Penang, 14300, Malaysia

    Monna Rozana, Khairunisak Abdul Razak, Cheong Kuan Yew & Zainovia Lockman

  2. Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Toyohashi University of Technology, Aichi, 441-8580, Japan

    Go Kawamura & Atsunori Matsuda

Authors
  1. Monna Rozana
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  2. Khairunisak Abdul Razak
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  3. Cheong Kuan Yew
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  4. Zainovia Lockman
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  5. Go Kawamura
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  6. Atsunori Matsuda
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Correspondence to Monna Rozana or Zainovia Lockman.

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Rozana, M., Razak, K.A., Yew, C.K. et al. Annealing temperature-dependent crystallinity and photocurrent response of anodic nanoporous iron oxide film. Journal of Materials Research 31, 1681–1690 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1557/jmr.2016.206

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