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Laser‐Textured Metal Substrates as Photoanodes for Enhanced PEC Water Splitting Reactions
Author(s) -
Bialuschewski Danny,
Hoppius Jan S.,
Frohnhoven Robert,
Deo Meenal,
Gönüllü Yakup,
Fischer Thomas,
Gurevich Evgeny L.,
Mathur Sanjay
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
advanced engineering materials
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.938
H-Index - 114
eISSN - 1527-2648
pISSN - 1438-1656
DOI - 10.1002/adem.201800167
Subject(s) - materials science , water splitting , x ray photoelectron spectroscopy , substrate (aquarium) , titanium , femtosecond , laser , oxide , metal , thin film , titanium oxide , photocatalysis , chemical engineering , optoelectronics , nanotechnology , analytical chemistry (journal) , optics , metallurgy , catalysis , biochemistry , chemistry , oceanography , physics , chromatography , engineering , geology
We demonstrate the effect of femtosecond laser structuring of titanium substrates to increase the absorption, photoconversion, and overall photoelectrochemical water splitting (PEC) performance compared to pristine metal substrates, independent of any additional top coat layers. The influence of ultra short laser pulse patterning on PEC efficiency is investigated toward spectroscopic (UV‐Vis), microscopic (SEM), crystallographic (XRD), and compositional (XPS) properties. The beneficial effect of a periodically patterned substrate is attributed to enhanced specific surface area and improved in‐plane light trapping when compared to flat surfaces. Photoanodes for water splitting experiments fabricated by titanium and iron oxide films on laser pre‐patterned Ti substrates are also found to show enhanced PEC efficiency (0.057 mA cm −2 ) when compared to unpatterened substrates (0.028 mA cm −2 ). The lower absolute PEC efficiencies are due to extreme thin films.