Premium
Plasma‐Assisted Fabrication of Fe 2 O 3 Co 3 O 4 Nanomaterials as Anodes for Photoelectrochemical Water Splitting
Author(s) -
Carraro Giorgio,
Maccato Chiara,
Gasparotto Alberto,
Kaunisto Kimmo,
Sada Cinzia,
Barreca Davide
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
plasma processes and polymers
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.644
H-Index - 74
eISSN - 1612-8869
pISSN - 1612-8850
DOI - 10.1002/ppap.201500106
Subject(s) - water splitting , photocurrent , materials science , sputtering , chemical vapor deposition , nanocomposite , oxygen evolution , catalysis , cobalt , nanomaterials , chemical engineering , cathodic protection , physical vapor deposition , anode , analytical chemistry (journal) , nanotechnology , thin film , electrochemistry , electrode , optoelectronics , chemistry , photocatalysis , metallurgy , environmental chemistry , biochemistry , engineering
Nanocomposite Fe 2 O 3 Co 3 O 4 photoanodes for photoelectrochemical H 2 O splitting were prepared by a plasma‐assisted route. Specifically, Fe 2 O 3 nanostructures were grown by plasma enhanced‐chemical vapor deposition, followed by cobalt sputtering for different process durations. The systems were annealed in air after, or both prior and after, sputtering of Co, to analyze the treatment influence on functional performances. The interplay between processing conditions and chemico‐physical features was investigated by a multi‐technique characterization. Photocurrent density measurements in sunlight‐assisted H 2 O splitting revealed a performance improvement upon Co 3 O 4 loading. A cathodic shift of the onset potential was also observed, highlighting Co 3 O 4 activity as catalyst for the oxygen evolution reaction.