Ti and Sn co-doped anodic α-Fe2O3 films for efficient water splitting

Hematite (alpha-Fe2O3) films were produced by anodic FeOOH deposition on FTO, followed by TiCl4 decoration and an appropriate heat treatment Optimizing the amount of Ti addition (1.5 mu L cm(-2) of 0.2 M TiCl4) and annealing to 600 degrees C/750 degrees C allows to reach 1.4 mA cm(-2) at 1.23 V (vs. RHE) with a maximum photocurrent of 3.1 mA cm(-2) at 1.8 V (vs. RHE) in 1 M KOH under AM 1.5 (100 mW cm(-2)) simulated solar illumination. This comparably high photoresponse can be attributed to a combined Ti/Sn effect, the latter causing thermal Sn doping from the FTO. Photocurrent transients show that the main combined influence of Ti addition/Sn doping is a strong suppression of charge carrier recombination. This may be attributed to electronic effects but also to a different morphology observed for Ti treated samples. The work shows that simple anodic nanoporous films have a high potential for optimization towards highly efficient hematite based photoelectrodes. (C) 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.