Structural and electronic properties of screen-printed Fe2O3/TiO2 thick films and their photoelectrochemical behavior
Source abstract
Abstract
Nanostructured Fe2TiO5 thick films were deposited on fluorine-doped tin oxide glass substrate using screen printing technology. Starting hematite and anatase nanopowders were mixed in molar ratios 1:1 and 1:1.5 and calcined in air at 900°C for 2 h to form pseudobrookite, Fe2TiO5. Functional powders and sintered thick films were analyzed by X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, energy-dispersive spectroscopy and transmission electron microscopy. UV–Vis analysis enabled determination of the band gap. Separation and transfer efficiency of photogenerated charge carriers was confirmed by the photoluminescence and electrochemical impedance spectra. Even though a slightly high onset oxygen evolution potential of photoexcited film electrode samples in NaOH was obtained, photocurrent densities were high, especially in the presence of H2O2 (~12 mA cm−2 at 1.7 V RHE). This work shows promise for practical application due to favorable band positions of pseudobrookite and low-cost screen printing technology.
Source: openaire · Quality: candidate unverified · Source record ↗
Research context
OpenAlex topics: Iron oxide chemistry and applications · Copper-based nanomaterials and applications · Advanced Photocatalysis Techniques
SciVX discovery tags are terminology-based. OpenAlex topics are source-provided classifications.
References (59)
Show source-provided references
1. Fujishima A, Honda K (1972) Electrochemical photolysis of water at a semiconductor electrode. Nature 238:37–38. doi: 10.1038/238037a010.1038/238037a0 ↗
2. Park JH, Kim S, Bard AJ (2006) Novel carbon-doped TiO2 nanotube arrays with high aspect ratios for efficient solar water splitting. Nano Lett 6:24–28. doi: 10.1021/nl051807y10.1021/nl051807y ↗
3. Wang H, Lindgren T, He J et al (2000) Photolelectrochemistry of nanostructured WO3 thin film electrodes for water oxidation: mechanism of electron transport. J Phys Chem B 104:5686–5696. doi: 10.1021/jp000275110.1021/jp0002751 ↗
4. Ahn K-S, Yan Y, Lee S-H et al (2007) Photoelectrochemical properties of N-incorporated ZnO films deposited by reactive RF magnetron sputtering. J Electrochem Soc 154:B956–B959. doi: 10.1149/1.275407410.1149/1.2754074 ↗
5. Ahn K-S, Shet S, Deutsch T et al (2008) Enhancement of photoelectrochemical response by aligned nanorods in ZnO thin films. J Power Sources 176:387–392. doi: 10.1016/j.jpowsour.2007.10.03410.1016/j.jpowsour.2007.10.034 ↗
6. Li C, Fan W, Lu H et al (2016) Fabrication of Au@CdS/RGO/TiO2 heterostructure for photoelectrochemical hydrogen production. New J Chem 40:2287–2295. doi: 10.1039/C5NJ03307A10.1039/C5NJ03307A ↗
7. Kuang S, Yang L, Luo S, Cai Q (2009) Fabrication, characterization and photoelectrochemical properties of Fe2O3 modified TiO2 nanotube arrays. Appl Surf Sci 255:7385–7388. doi: 10.1016/j.apsusc.2009.04.00510.1016/j.apsusc.2009.04.005 ↗
8. Kumar P, Sharma P, Shrivastav R et al (2011) Electrodeposited zirconium-doped α-Fe2O3 thin film for photoelectrochemical water splitting. Int J Hydrog Energy 36:2777–2784. doi: 10.1016/j.ijhydene.2010.11.10710.1016/j.ijhydene.2010.11.107 ↗
9. Sivula K, Zboril R, Le Formal F et al (2010) Photoelectrochemical water splitting with mesoporous hematite prepared by a solution-based colloidal approach. J Am Chem Soc 132:7436–7444. doi: 10.1021/ja101564f10.1021/ja101564f ↗
10. Cesar I, Kay A, Gonzalez Martinez JA, Grätzel M (2006) Translucent thin film Fe2O3 photoanodes for efficient water splitting by sunlight: nanostructure-directing effect of si-doping. J Am Chem Soc 128:4582–4583. doi: 10.1021/ja060292p10.1021/ja060292p ↗
11. Wodka D, Socha RP, Bielańska E et al (2014) Photocatalytic activity of titanium dioxide modified by Fe2O3 nanoparticles. Appl Surf Sci 319:173–180. doi: 10.1016/j.apsusc.2014.08.01010.1016/j.apsusc.2014.08.010 ↗
12. Ling Y, Wang G, Wheeler DA et al (2011) Sn-doped hematite nanostructures for photoelectrochemical water splitting. Nano Lett 11:2119–2125. doi: 10.1021/nl200708y10.1021/nl200708y ↗
13. Sharma D, Upadhyay S, Verma A et al (2015) Nanostructured Ti-Fe2O3/Cu2O heterojunction photoelectrode for efficient hydrogen production. Thin Solid Films 574:125–131. doi: 10.1016/j.tsf.2014.12.00310.1016/j.tsf.2014.12.003 ↗
14. Neufeld O, Toroker MC (2015) Platinum-doped α-Fe2O3 for enhanced water splitting efficiency: a DFT+ U Study. J Phys Chem C 119:5836–5847. doi: 10.1021/jp512002f10.1021/jp512002f ↗
15. Osterloh FE (2013) Inorganic nanostructures for photoelectrochemical and photocatalytic water splitting. Chem Soc Rev 42:2294–2320. doi: 10.1039/C2CS35266D10.1039/C2CS35266D ↗
16. Kim JY, Magesh G, Youn DH et al (2013) Single-crystalline, wormlike hematite photoanodes for efficient solar water splitting. Sci Rep. doi: 10.1038/srep0268110.1038/srep02681 ↗
17. Im JS, Lee SK, Lee Y-S (2011) Cocktail effect of Fe2O3 and TiO2 semiconductors for a high performance dye-sensitized solar cell. Appl Surf Sci 257:2164–2169. doi: 10.1016/j.apsusc.2010.09.06610.1016/j.apsusc.2010.09.066 ↗
18. Barreca D, Carraro G, Gasparotto A et al (2015) Fe2O3–TiO2 Nano-heterostructure photoanodes for highly efficient solar water oxidation. Adv Mater Interfaces 2:1500313. doi: 10.1002/admi.20150031310.1002/admi.201500313 ↗
19. Li X, Yu J, Low J et al (2015) Engineering heterogeneous semiconductors for solar water splitting. J Mater Chem A 3:2485–2534. doi: 10.1039/C4TA04461D10.1039/C4TA04461D ↗
20. Aroutiounian VM, Arakelyan VM, Shahnazaryan GE et al (2006) Photoelectrochemistry of semiconductor electrodes made of solid solutions in the system Fe2O3–Nb2O5. Sol Energy 80:1098–1111. doi: 10.1016/j.solener.2005.10.00510.1016/j.solener.2005.10.005 ↗
21. Danzfuss B, Stimming U (1984) Iron(III)-titanium(IV)-oxide electrodes: their structural, electrochemical and photoelectrochemical properties. J Electroanal Chem 164:89–119. doi: 10.1016/S0022-0728(84)80233-810.1016/S0022-0728(84)80233-8 ↗
22. Monllor-Satoca D, Bärtsch M, Fàbrega C et al (2015) What do you do, titanium? Insight into the role of titanium oxide as a water oxidation promoter in hematite-based photoanodes. Energy Environ Sci 8:3242–3254. doi: 10.1039/C5EE01679G10.1039/C5EE01679G ↗
23. Bassi PS, Chiam SY, Gurudayal et al (2014) Hydrothermal grown nanoporous iron based titanate, Fe2TiO5 for light driven water splitting. ACS Appl Mater Interfaces 6:22490–22495. doi: 10.1021/am506557410.1021/am5065574 ↗
24. Liu Q, He J, Yao T et al (2014) Aligned Fe2TiO5-containing nanotube arrays with low onset potential for visible-light water oxidation. Nat Commun 5:5122. doi: 10.1038/ncomms612210.1038/ncomms6122 ↗
25. Deng J, Lv X, Liu J et al (2015) Thin-layer Fe2TiO5 on hematite for efficient solar water oxidation. ACS Nano 9:5348–5356. doi: 10.1021/acsnano.5b0102810.1021/acsnano.5b01028 ↗
26. Bassi PS, Antony RP, Boix PP et al (2016) Crystalline Fe2O3/Fe2TiO5 heterojunction nanorods with efficient charge separation and hole injection as photoanode for solar water oxidation. Nano Energy 22:310–318. doi: 10.1016/j.nanoen.2016.02.01310.1016/j.nanoen.2016.02.013 ↗
27. Carotta MC, Ferroni M, Guidi V, Martinelli G (1999) Preparation and characterization of nanostructured titania thick films. Adv Mater 11:943–946. doi: 10.1002/(SICI)1521-4095(199908)11:11<943:AID-ADMA943>3.0.CO;2-L10.1002/(SICI)1521-4095(199908)11:11<943::AID-ADMA943>3.0.CO;2-L ↗
28. Kamble RB, Mathe VL (2008) Nanocrystalline nickel ferrite thick film as an efficient gas sensor at room temperature. Sens Actuators B Chem 131:205–209. doi: 10.1016/j.snb.2007.11.00310.1016/j.snb.2007.11.003 ↗
29. Lee WJ, Shinde PS, Go GH, Ramasamy E (2011) Ag grid induced photocurrent enhancement in WO3 photoanodes and their scale-up performance toward photoelectrochemical H2 generation. Int J Hydrog Energy 36:5262–5270. doi: 10.1016/j.ijhydene.2011.02.01310.1016/j.ijhydene.2011.02.013 ↗
30. Larson AC, Von Dreele RB (2004) General structure analysis system (GSAS) Los Alamos National Laboratory Report LAUR 86-748
31. Toby BH (2001) EXPGUI, a graphical user interface for GSAS. J Appl Crystallogr 34:210–21310.1107/S0021889801002242 ↗
32. Tiedemann P, Mueller-Buschbaum H (1982) Zum Problem der Metallverteilung in Pseudobrookiten: FeAlTiO5 und Fe2TiO5. ZAAC Z Anorg Allg Chem 494:98–102. doi: 10.1002/zaac.1982494011210.1002/zaac.19824940112 ↗
33. Drofenik M, Golič L, Hanžel D et al (1981) A new monoclinic phase in the Fe2O3-TiO2 system. I. Structure determination and Mössbauer spectroscopy. J Solid State Chem 40:47–51. doi: 10.1016/0022-4596(81)90359-510.1016/0022-4596(81)90359-5 ↗
34. Guo WQ, Malus S, Ryan DH, Altounian Z (1999) Crystal structure and cation distributions in the FeTi2O5-Fe2TiO5 solid solution series. J Phys Condens Matter 11:6337–6346. doi: 10.1088/0953-8984/11/33/30410.1088/0953-8984/11/33/304 ↗
35. Djuric ZZ, Aleksic OS, Nikolic MV et al (2014) Structural and electrical properties of sintered Fe2O3/TiO2 nanopowder mixtures. Ceram Int 40:15131–15141. doi: 10.1016/j.ceramint.2014.06.12610.1016/j.ceramint.2014.06.126 ↗
36. Seitz G, Penin N, Decoux L et al (2016) Near the ferric pseudobrookite composition (Fe2TiO5). Inorg Chem 55:2499–2507. doi: 10.1021/acs.inorgchem.5b0284710.1021/acs.inorgchem.5b02847 ↗
37. Weibel A, Bouchet R, Boulc’ F, Knauth P (2005) The big problem of small particles: a comparison of methods for determination of particle size in nanocrystalline anatase powders. Chem Mater 17:2378–2385. doi: 10.1021/cm040376210.1021/cm0403762 ↗
38. Tauc J, Menth A, Wood DL (1970) Optical and magnetic investigations of the localized states in semiconducting glasses. Phys Rev Lett 25:749–752. doi: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.25.74910.1103/PhysRevLett.25.749 ↗
39. Alcántara R, Navas J, Fernández-Lorenzo C et al (2011) Synthesis and Raman spectroscopy study of TiO2 nanoparticles. Phys Status Solidi (c) 8:1970–1973. doi: 10.1002/pssc.20100031910.1002/pssc.201000319 ↗
40. Courtin E, Baldinozzi G, Sougrati MT et al (2014) New Fe2TiO5-based nanoheterostructured mesoporous photoanodes with improved visible light photoresponses. J Mater Chem A 2:6567. doi: 10.1039/c4ta00102h10.1039/c4ta00102h ↗
41. Verma N, Singh S, Srivastava R, Yadav BC (2014) Fabrication of iron titanium oxide thin film and its application as opto-electronic humidity and liquefied petroleum gas sensors. Opt Laser Technol 57:181–188. doi: 10.1016/j.optlastec.2013.10.00710.1016/j.optlastec.2013.10.007 ↗
42. Vasiljevic ZZ, Lukovic MD, Nikolic MV et al (2015) Nanostructured Fe2O3/TiO2 thick films: analysis of structural and electronic properties. Ceram Int 41:6889–6897. doi: 10.1016/j.ceramint.2015.01.14110.1016/j.ceramint.2015.01.141 ↗
43. Zhang Z (2008) Optical properties and spectroscopy of nanomaterials. World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd, Singapore
44. Flak D, Braun A, Vollmer A, Rekas M (2013) Effect of the titania substitution on the electronic structure and transport properties of FSS-made Fe2O3 nanoparticles for hydrogen sensing. Sens Actuators B Chem 187:347–355. doi: 10.1016/j.snb.2012.12.03810.1016/j.snb.2012.12.038 ↗
45. Zhang WF, Zhang MS, Yin Z, Chen Q (2000) Photoluminescence in anatase titanium dioxide nanocrystals. Appl Phys B Lasers Opt 70:261–265. doi: 10.1007/s00340005004310.1007/s003400050043 ↗
46. Wang X, Blackford M, Prince K, Caruso RA (2012) Preparation of boron-doped porous titania networks containing gold nanoparticles with enhanced visible-light photocatalytic activity. ACS Appl Mater Interfaces 4:476–482. doi: 10.1021/am201695c10.1021/am201695c ↗
47. Li XZ, Li FB (2001) Study of Au/Au3+-TiO2 photocatalysts toward visible photooxidation for water and Wastewater treatment. Environ Sci Technol 35:2381–2387. doi: 10.1021/es001752w10.1021/es001752w ↗
48. Barroso M, Mesa CA, Pendlebury SR et al (2012) Dynamics of photogenerated holes in surface modified -Fe2O3 photoanodes for solar water splitting. Proc Natl Acad Sci 109:15640–15645. doi: 10.1073/pnas.111832610910.1073/pnas.1118326109 ↗
49. Dotan H, Sivula K, Grätzel M et al (2011) Probing the photoelectrochemical properties of hematite (α-Fe2O3) electrodes using hydrogen peroxide as a hole scavenger. Energy Environ Sci 4:958–964. doi: 10.1039/C0EE00570C10.1039/C0EE00570C ↗
50. Kozuka H, Kajimura M (2001) Sol-gel preparation and photoelectrochemical properties of Fe2TiO5 thin films. J Sol-Gel Sci Technol 22:125–132. doi: 10.1023/A:101122870693410.1023/A:1011228706934 ↗
51. Lou Z, Li Y, Song H et al (2016) Fabrication of Fe2TiO5/TiO2 nanoheterostructures with enhanced visible-light photocatalytic activity. RSC Adv 6:45343–45348. doi: 10.1039/C6RA06763H10.1039/C6RA06763H ↗
52. Zhao Y, Nakamura R, Kamiya K et al (2013) Nitrogen-doped carbon nanomaterials as non-metal electrocatalysts for water oxidation. Nat Commun. doi: 10.1038/ncomms339010.1038/ncomms3390 ↗
53. Šljukić B, Vujković M, Amaral L et al (2015) Carbon-supported Mo2C electrocatalysts for hydrogen evolution reaction. J Mater Chem A 3:15505–15512. doi: 10.1039/C5TA02346G10.1039/C5TA02346G ↗
54. Klahr B, Gimenez S, Fabregat-Santiago F et al (2012) Water oxidation at hematite photoelectrodes: the role of surface states. J Amer Chem Soc 134:4294–4302. doi: 10.1021/ja210755h10.1021/ja210755h ↗
55. Lopes T, Andrade L, Le Formal F et al (2014) Hematite photoelectrodes for water splitting: evaluation of the role of film thickness by impedance spectroscopy. Phys Chem Chem Phys 16:16515. doi: 10.1039/C3CP55473B10.1039/C3CP55473B ↗
56. Guo S, Wang S, Wu N et al (2015) Facile synthesis of porous Fe2TiO5 microparticulates serving as anode material with enhanced electrochemical performances. RSC Adv 5:103767–103775. doi: 10.1039/C5RA22930H10.1039/C5RA22930H ↗
57. Shoar Abouzari MR, Berkemeier F, Schmitz G, Wilmer D (2009) On the physical interpretation of constant phase elements. Solid State Ion 180:922–927. doi: 10.1016/j.ssi.2009.04.00210.1016/j.ssi.2009.04.002 ↗
58. Bondarenko AS, Ragoisha G, EIS Spectrum Analyzer, http://www.abc.chemistry.bsu.by
59. Martínez R, Kumar A, Palai R et al (2011) Impedance spectroscopy analysis of Ba 0.7 Sr 03 TiO 3/La 0.7 Sr 0.3 MnO 3 heterostructure. J Phys D Appl Phys 44:105302. doi: 10.1088/0022-3727/44/10/10530210.1088/0022-3727/44/10/105302 ↗