1 research outputs found
Facile Fabrication of Sandwich Structured WO<sub>3</sub> Nanoplate Arrays for Efficient Photoelectrochemical Water Splitting
Herein,
sandwich structured tungsten trioxide (WO<sub>3</sub>)
nanoplate arrays were first synthesized for photoelectrochemical (PEC)
water splitting via a facile hydrothermal method followed by an annealing
treatment. It was demonstrated that the annealing temperature played
an important role in determining the morphology and crystal phase
of the WO<sub>3</sub> film. Only when the hydrothermally prepared
precursor was annealed at 500 °C could the sandwich structured
WO<sub>3</sub> nanoplates be achieved, probably due to the crystalline
phase transition and increased thermal stress during the annealing
process. The sandwich structured WO<sub>3</sub> photoanode exhibited
a photocurrent density of 1.88 mA cm<sup>–2</sup> and an incident
photon-to-current conversion efficiency (IPCE) as high as 65% at 400
nm in neutral Na<sub>2</sub>SO<sub>4</sub> solution under AM 1.5G
illumination. To our knowledge, this value is one of the best PEC
performances for WO<sub>3</sub> photoanodes. Meanwhile, simultaneous
hydrogen and oxygen evolution was demonstrated for the PEC water splitting.
It was concluded that the high PEC performance should be attributed
to the large electrochemically active surface area and active monoclinic
phase. The present study can provide guidance to develop highly efficient
nanostructured photoelectrodes with the favorable morphology