Anodic self-organized transparent nanotubular/porous hematite films from Fe thin-films sputtered on FTO and photoelectrochemical water splitting

Authors

Lei Wang, University of Erlangen-Nuremberg
Chong-Yong Lee, University of Erlangen-NurembergFollow
Robin Kirchgeorg, University of Erlangen-Nuremberg
Ning Liu, University of Erlangen-Nuremberg
Kiyoung Lee, University of Erlangen-Nuremberg
Stepan Kment, Palacky University
Zdenek Hubicka, Institute Of Physics Of The Academy Of Sciences Of The Czech Republic
Josef Krysa, Institute Of Chemical Technology
Jiri Olejnicek, Palacky University
Martin Cada, Palacky University
Radek Zboril, Palacky University
Patrik Schmuki, King Abdulaziz University, Saudi Arabia, University of Erlangen-Nuremberg

RIS ID

104145

Publication Details

Wang, L., Lee, C., Kirchgeorg, R., Liu, N., Lee, K., Kment, S., Hubicka, Z., Krysa, J., Olejnicek, J., Cada, M., Zboril, R. & Schmuki, P. (2015). Anodic self-organized transparent nanotubular/porous hematite films from Fe thin-films sputtered on FTO and photoelectrochemical water splitting. Research on Chemical Intermediates, 41 9333-9341.

Abstract

In the present work, we investigate the self-organized anodic formation of nanotubular/porous hematite structures from Fe thin films on fluorine doped tin oxide (FTO) substrates. We show, for different metal film thicknesses, that transparent layers of an aligned 1D oxide morphology can be grown by complete anodization of sputtered iron films. The nanoporous or nanotubular structures show very different potentials for use as a photoanode for solar water splitting. Best performance under AM 1.5 (100 mW cm⁻²) conditions were found for a nanoporous hematite structure obtained after anodizing a 570-nm-thick iron film and using combined air/Ar annealing to maintain the nanoscale morphology.