Abstract
Herein, we report the synthesis of three-dimensional (3D) and one-dimensional (1D) hierarchical hematite (α-Fe2O3) nanostructures on fluorine-doped tin oxide (FTO) glass substrate by hydrothermal and hybrid microwave annealing (HMA) process for photoelectrochemical (PEC) water oxidation. The properties of prepared α-Fe2O3 nanostructures were characterized by different characterization techniques. Moreover, the PEC water oxidation performance of the α-Fe2O3 nanostructures was studied under simulated solar irradiation. The 3D α-Fe2O3 nanostructures shown an enhanced photocurrent density of 0.48 mAcm−2 at 1.23 V vs. RHE when compared with 1D α-Fe2O3 nanostructure (0.07 mAcm−2 at 1.23 V vs. RHE) under 100 m Wcm−2 solar irradiation. This result demonstrates that the 3D α-Fe2O3 nanostructures have higher PEC water oxidation ability than 1D α-Fe2O3 nanostructure. The enhancement in the PEC water oxidation process was due to the higher electrical conductivity with suppressed charge recombination rates.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
B.R. Kim, H.J. Oh, K.S. Yun, S.C. Jung, W. Kang, S.J. Kim, Prog. Org. Coat. 76, 1869 (2013)
A. Sreedhar, J.-S. Noh, J Electroanal. Chem. 883, 115044 (2021)
Y. Zhou, L. Zhang, L. Lin, B.R. Wygant, Y. Liu, Y. Zhu, Y. Zheng, C.B. Mullins, Y. Zhao, X. Zhang, G. Yu, Nano Lett. 17, 8012 (2017)
I. Fujimoto, N. Wang, R. Saito, Y. Miseki, T. Gunji, K. Sayama, Int. J. Hydrogen Energy 39, 2454 (2014)
Q. Pan, H. Zhang, Y. Yang, C. Cheng, Small 15, 1 (2019)
X. Chen, D. Wang, Y. Huang, Y. Zhang, C. Li, S. Wang, Y. Liu, X. Zhang, APL Mater. 8, 031112 (2020)
Y. Makimizu, N.T. Nguyen, J. Tucek, H.J. Ahn, J.E. Yoo, M. Poornajar, I. Hwang, S. Kment, P. Schmuki, Chem. Eur. J. 26, 2685 (2020)
S. Cho, J.-W. Jang, K.-H. Lee, J.S. Lee, APL Materials 2, 010703 (2014)
G. Wang, Y. Ling, D.A. Wheeler, K.E.N. George, K. Horsley, C. Heske, J.Z. Zhang, Y. Li, Nano Lett. 11, 3503 (2011)
M. Forster, R.J. Potter, Y. Ling, Y. Yang, D.R. Klug, Y. Li, A.J. Cowan, Chem. Sci. 6, 4009 (2015)
Z. Najaf, D.L.T. Nguyen, S.Y. Chae, O.-S. Joo, A.U.H.A. Shah, D.-V.N. Vo, V.-H. Nguyen, Q. Van Le, G. Rahman, Int. J. Hydrogen Energy 46, 23334–23357 (2020)
Z. Guo, W. Huo, T. Cao, F. Fan, G. Ge, X. Liu, K. Chen, H.-C. Yao, F. Dong, Y. Zhang, CrystEngComm 22, 257 (2020)
P.M. Chee, P.P. Boix, H. Ge, F. Yanan, J. Barber, L.H. Wong, ACS Appl. Mater. Interfaces 7, 6852 (2015)
C. Yilmaz, U. Unal, RSC Adv. 5, 16082 (2015)
Y. Hou, C. Zheng, Z. Zhu, X. Wang, Chem. Commun. 52, 6888 (2016)
F.L. Souza, K.P. Lopes, P.A.P. Nascente, E.R. Leite, Sol. Energy Mater. Sol. Cells 93, 362 (2009)
R. Białek, D.J.K. Swainsbury, M. Wiesner, M.R. Jones, K. Gibasiewicz, Photosynth. Res. 138, 103 (2018)
L. Li, C. Liu, H. Zhang, P. Liang, N. Mitsuzaki, Z. Chen, Electrochim. Acta 281, 246 (2018)
H. Wang, Y. Xia, H. Li, X. Wang, Y. Yu, X. Jiao, D. Chen, Nat. Commun. 11, 3078 (2020)
Acknowledgements
The authors would like to acknowledge the Ministry of Science and Technology, Department of Science and Technology (WOS-A) (File No. SR-WOS-A/PM-71/2017), and DST-SERB, India (F.NO. EMR/2017/001238), for financial support. The authors extend their appreciation to the Deanship of Scientific Research at King Khalid University for funding this study through the Large Research Group Project under grant number R.G.P. 2/139/1442.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding authors
Additional information
Publisher's Note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Geerthana, M., Ramachandran, K., Harish, S. et al. Three and one-dimensional hierarchical α-Fe2O3 nanostructures for photoelectrochemical water oxidation. J Mater Sci: Mater Electron 33, 9204–9210 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10854-021-07215-4
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10854-021-07215-4