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Transition metal tungstates AWO4 (A2+  = Fe, Co, Ni, and Cu) thin films and their photoelectrochemical behavior as photoanode for photocatalytic applications

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Abstract

This paper discusses about a facile transition metal tungstate thin films preparation method and their remarkable photoelectrochemical properties. The films of AWO4 (A2+ = Fe, Co, Ni, Cu) were deposited onto conductive fluorine-doped tin oxide (FTO) glass substrate. The results of X-ray diffraction analysis indicated the presence of crystalline films. Field emission scanning electron microscopy images revealed nanostructured materials. X-ray photoelectron studies were employed to analyze elemental and chemical composition. Optical behavior indicated indirect transitions for all AWO4 films. Photoelectrochemical studies displayed that AWO4 films were successfully used as photoanodes in a photoelectrochemical cell under polychromatic irradiation. From electrochemical measurement, it was possible to estimate the flat band potential and so prevising suitable application of photoelectrodes. This work reports for the first time a comparative and comprehensive photoelectrochemical study with AWO4 films prepared in a simple way. The results indicate that the films can be used as photoanodes in water splitting reactions and other photoelectrocatalytic applications.

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Acknowledgements

The Brazilian authors acknowledge the financial support from the Brazilian research financing institutions: CNPq (312318/2017-0 and 408036/2018-4), CCN2-PPGCM-UFPI-LIMAV, GERATEC-UESPI-CETEM, FAPESP-CDMF (13/07296-2) and CAPES.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Programa de Pós-Graduação em Química-PPGQ, Universidade Federal do Piauí-UFPI, Teresina, PI, 64049-550, Brazil

    Maria Joseíta dos Santos Costa, Aline Estefany Brandão Lima, Gilson dos Santos Costa, Geraldo Eduardo da Luz Jr & Reginaldo da Silva Santos

  2. PPGQ-GreeTec-CETEM, Universidade Estadual do Piauí-UESPI, Rua: João Cabral, N, 2231, P.O. Box 381, Teresina, PI, 64002-150, Brazil

    Ester Pamponet Ribeiro, Geraldo Eduardo da Luz Jr, Laecio Santos Cavalcante & Reginaldo da Silva Santos

  3. CDMF, Universidade Federal de São Carlos-UFSCar, P.O. Box 676, São Carlos, SP, 13565-905, Brazil

    Elson Longo

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  1. Maria Joseíta dos Santos Costa
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  2. Aline Estefany Brandão Lima
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  6. Geraldo Eduardo da Luz Jr
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  7. Laecio Santos Cavalcante
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Contributions

MJSC: conceptualization, methodology, formal analysis, investigation, data curation, writing—original draft, writing—review & editing, visualization. AEBL: methodology, investigation. EPR: resources, methodology, investigation. GSC: methodology, investigation, formal analysis. EL: conceptualization, writing—review & editing, GELJ: conceptualization, methodology, writing—review & editing. LSC: conceptualization, methodology, project administration, writing—review & editing and RSS: conceptualization, methodology, writing—review & editing, project administration, and supervision. All authors participated in writing the manuscript and discussing all the results.

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Correspondence to Laecio Santos Cavalcante.

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Costa, M.J.d.S., Lima, A.E.B., Ribeiro, E.P. et al. Transition metal tungstates AWO4 (A2+  = Fe, Co, Ni, and Cu) thin films and their photoelectrochemical behavior as photoanode for photocatalytic applications. J Appl Electrochem 53, 1349–1367 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10800-023-01851-w

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