Photoelectrochemical properties of Fe 2O 3 supported on TiO 2 -based thin films converted from self-assembled hydrogen titanate nanotube powders

Abstract

A photoanode was fabricated using hematite (-Fe 2O 3) nanoparticles which had been held in a thin film of hydrogen titanate nanotubes (H-TiNT), synthesized by repetitive self-assembling method on FTO (fluorine-doped tin oxide) glass, which were incorporated via dipping process in aqueous Fe(NO3)3 solution. Current voltage (I-V) electrochemical properties of the photoanode heat-treated at 500C for 10min in air were evaluated under ultraviolet-visible light irradiation. Microstructure and crystallinity changes were also investigated. The prepared Fe 2O 3/H-TiNT/FTO composite thin film exhibited about threefold as much photocurrent as the Fe 2O 3/FTO film. The improvement in photocurrent was considered to be caused by reduced recombination of electrons and holes, with an appropriate amount of Fe 2O 3 spherical nanoparticles supported on the H-TiNT/FTO film. Nanosized spherical Fe 2O 3 particles with about 65wt on the H-TiNT/FTO film showed best performance in our study. Copyright © 2012 Kyung-Jong Noh et al.