2 research outputs found
Aerosol-assisted CVD of bismuth vanadate thin films and their photoelectrochemical properties
Thin film bismuth vanadate (BiVO4) photoelectrodes are prepared by aerosol-assisted (AA)CVD for the first time on fluorine-doped tin oxide (FTO) glass substrates. The BiVO4 photoelectrodes are characterised by X-ray diffraction (XRD), Raman spectroscopy (RS), and energy-dispersive X-ray (EDX) spectroscopy and are found to consist of phase-pure monoclinic BiVO4. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) analysis shows that the thin film is uniform with a porous structure, and consists of particles approximately 75-125nm in diameter. The photoelectrochemical (PEC) properties of the BiVO4 photoelectrodes are studied in aqueous 1M Na2SO4 and show photocurrent densities of 0.4mAcm-2, and a maximum incident-photon-to-electron conversion efficiency (IPCE) of 19% at 1.23V vs. the reversible hydrogen electrode (RHE). BiVO4 photoelectrodes prepared by this method are thus highly promising for use in PEC water-splitting cells. Thin film bismuth vanadate (BiVO4) photoelectrodes are prepared by AACVD for the first time on fluorine-doped tin oxide (FTO) glass substrates. The photoelectrochemical (PEC) properties of the BiVO4 photoelectrodes are studied in aqueous 1M Na2SO4 and show photocurrent densities of 0.4mAcm-2 and a maximum incident-photon-to-electron conversion efficiency (IPCE) of 19% at 1.23V vs. RHE. BiVO4 photoelectrodes prepared by this method are highly promising for use in PEC water-splitting cells
Enhanced performance of flexible dye-sensitized solar cells: electrodeposition of Mg(OH)(2) on a nanocrystalline TiO2 electrode
Nanocrystalline TiO2 photoanodes were prepared on a conductive indium–tin oxide coated polyethylene naphthalate (ITO-PEN) plastic substrate by the doctor-blade method to fabricate flexible dye-sensitized solar cells (DSCs). The surface of the photoanode was coated with Mg(OH)2 by electrodeposition and the deposition time was systematically varied (2, 4, 6, 8, and 10 min). Electrodeposited Mg(OH)2 was confirmed by IR and energy dispersive X-ray (EDX) analysis. The surface morphology was studied by scanning electron microscopy. The internal surface area of TiO2 was studied against the deposition time by taking into account the projected surface area of the photoelectrode and it shows that the internal surface area of the photoelectrode was reduced as the Mg(OH)2 deposition time increased. The performance of flexible DSCs on various deposition times of Mg(OH)2 was evaluated on the basis of their photocurrent density–voltage characteristics. Among the deposition times, 2 min showed the best performance in Voc on a treated flexible DSC, with resulting 847 mV and a photocurrent density of 7.13 mA/cm2, providing an overall light-to-electricity conversion efficiency of 4.01%. This photovoltage is among the highest attained for a flexible DSC to date. This notable increment in Voc at a thin layer of Mg(OH)2 was attributed to the suppression of recombination of photogenerated electrons via the exposed surface of ITO as well as TiO2 without influencing the internal surface area of the photoanode significantly