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Ultrathin-layer α-Fe2O3 deposited under hematite for solar water splitting

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Abstract

This work proposes a new strategy to prepare a hematite (α-Fe2O3) bilayer photoanode by hydrothermally depositing α-Fe2O3 (B) on the α-Fe2O3 (A) films prepared by electrochemical deposition. Compact smooth surfaced α-Fe2O3 (A) films were electrochemically deposited on FTO (SnO2:F) substrates from an aqueous bath. The α-Fe2O3 (A), α-Fe2O3 (B), and α-Fe2O3/α-Fe2O3 bilayer films’ characteristics were defined by X-ray diffraction (XRD) measurements, field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), and energy-dispersive X-ray (EDX) spectroscopy. Pure crystalline α-Fe2O3 (B) films with a typical anisotropic-like nanoparticle formation, which exhibited nanostructured rods covering the substrate and formed the characteristic mesoporous film morphology, were hydrothermally deposited on α-Fe2O3 (A) films prepared by electrochemical depositing in a solution bath at 25 °C and a potential of − 0.15 V. The photocurrent measurements exhibited increased intrinsic surface states (or defects) at the α-Fe2O3 (A)/α-Fe2O3 (B) interface. The photoelectrochemical performance of the α-Fe2O3 (A)/α-Fe2O3 (B) structure was examined by chronoamperometry, which found that the α-Fe2O3 (A)/α-Fe2O3 (B) structure exhibited greater photoelectrochemical activity than the α-Fe2O3 (A) and α-Fe2O3 (B) thin films. The highest photocurrent density was obtained for the bilayer α-Fe2O3 (A)/α-Fe2O3 (B) films in 1 M NaOH electrolyte. This great photoactivity was ascribed to the highly active surface area, and to the externally applied bias that favored the transfer and separation of photogenerated charge carriers in α-Fe2O3 (A)/α-Fe2O3 (B). The improved photocurrent density was attributed to an appropriate band edge alignment of semiconductors and to enhanced light absorption by both semiconductors. The best performing samples were α-Fe2O3 (A)/α-Fe2O3 (B), which reached the maximum incident photon conversion efficiencies (IPCE) of 400 nm at the potential of 0.1 V. In this case, the IPCE values were 3-fold higher than those of the α-Fe2O3 (A) and α-Fe2O3 (B) films.

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Funding

This work was supported by the Ministry of High Education and Scientific Research (Tunisia), Research and Technology Centre of Energy (CRTEn) Borj-Cedria, and the Spanish Ministerio de Economia y Competitividad (ENE2016-77798-C4-2-R), and the Generalitat valenciana (Prometeus 2014/044).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Photovoltaic Laboratory, Research and Technology Centre of Energy, Borj-Cedria Science and Technology Park, BP 95, 2050, Hammam-Lif, Tunisia

    Feriel Bouhjar & Brahim Bessaïs

  2. Institut de Disseny i Fabricació (IDF) - Departament de Física Aplicada, Universitat Politècnica de València, Camí de Vera s/n, 46022, Valencia, Spain

    Feriel Bouhjar & Bernabé Marí

  3. University of Tunis, Tunis, Tunisia

    Feriel Bouhjar

Authors
  1. Feriel Bouhjar
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  2. Brahim Bessaïs
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Correspondence to Feriel Bouhjar.

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Bouhjar, F., Bessaïs, B. & Marí, B. Ultrathin-layer α-Fe2O3 deposited under hematite for solar water splitting. J Solid State Electrochem 22, 2347–2356 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10008-018-3946-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10008-018-3946-7

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