Issue 1, 2017

Mesoporous thin film WO3 photoanode for photoelectrochemical water splitting: a sol–gel dip coating approach

Abstract

A facile and cost-efficient method to fabricate a mesoporous structured WO3 photoanode was implemented for use in a tandem dual photosystem water splitting photoelectrochemical cell. Semi-transparent thin films of tungsten trioxide were fabricated by sol–gel process, incorporating a block co-polymer to induce a template-directed mesoporous structure. These thin films are deposited by dip coating onto transparent conducting oxide substrates and crystallized at a low temperature of 400 °C in air. These WO3 photoanodes exhibit a photocurrent of up to 0.6 mA cm−2 in potassium phosphate buffers of pH 2, 4, and 6 at 1.23 V vs. RHE under 300 mW cm−2 visible (400–900 nm) light irradiation with a faradaic efficiency of up to 75%. Furthermore, we have demonstrated that corrosion occurs in electrolytes of pH > 4. The faradaic efficiencies in varying pH solutions suggest that parasitic redox reactions occurs in acidic conditions, limiting the O2 production and demonstrating the need for stable surface co-catalysts to increase faradaic efficiencies. In neutral conditions, protective layers and/or co-catalysts are needed for increasing WO3 photoanode stability.

Graphical abstract: Mesoporous thin film WO3 photoanode for photoelectrochemical water splitting: a sol–gel dip coating approach

Associated articles

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
11 Oct 2016
Accepted
20 Dec 2016
First published
09 Jan 2017

Sustainable Energy Fuels, 2017,1, 145-153

Mesoporous thin film WO3 photoanode for photoelectrochemical water splitting: a sol–gel dip coating approach

S. Hilliard, G. Baldinozzi, D. Friedrich, S. Kressman, H. Strub, V. Artero and C. Laberty-Robert, Sustainable Energy Fuels, 2017, 1, 145 DOI: 10.1039/C6SE00001K

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