Proceedings of nanoGe Fall Meeting19 (NFM19)
DOI: https://doi.org/10.29363/nanoge.nfm.2019.160
Publication date: 18th July 2019
Photoelectrochemical (PEC) water splitting enables the utilisation of sunlight to obtain a renewable hydrogen source. Semiconducting metal oxides are promising materials for PEC photoanodes, and in particular WO3-based materials due to their low-cost, natural abundance and stability in acidic media. In this work, substoichiometric WO3 nanoneedles are synthesised in a single step via aerosol-assisted chemical vapour deposition (AA-CVD) as an up-scalable method. Pd nanoparticles are deposited as an additional step, also via AA-CVD. Physical characterisation of the materials using techniques including X-Ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS), Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) and Raman spectroscopy, confirm their nanoneedle morphology, monoclinic crystalline phase and detailed chemical composition. The photocurrent and oxygen generation capabilities of the different sample compositions are studied, with their charge carrier dynamics analysed via transient techniques (transient absorption spectroscopy and transient photocurrent measurements) to aid understanding of the underlying performance enhancement mechanisms. It is clear from our study that Pd deposition dramatically enhances the photoanode performance, with regards to both photocurrent generation and faradaic water oxidation capabilities. Annealing the photoanodes, to optimise the oxygen vacancy concentration in WO3 and oxidise Pd0 to Pd2+ species, is crucial for achieving these improvements. The PdOx co-catalyst is found to increase the rate of charge extraction, seen in transient photocurrent measurements, and reduce side reactions at the photoanode surface.
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