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Role of W‐Rich CuWO 4 and Doped Zn‐CuWO 4 Ceramics and Its Improved Photoelectrochemical Cell Performances Synthesized by Solid State Reaction Method
Author(s) -
Balasubramanian Venkatachalapathy,
Kannan Selvaraj,
Thangaraj Nishanthi S.,
Sivakumar Ganesan,
Mohanraj Kannusamy
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
chemistryselect
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.437
H-Index - 34
ISSN - 2365-6549
DOI - 10.1002/slct.202000229
Subject(s) - high resolution transmission electron microscopy , materials science , photocurrent , nyquist plot , analytical chemistry (journal) , doping , conductivity , electrolyte , x ray photoelectron spectroscopy , electrode , electrochemistry , chemical engineering , nanotechnology , chemistry , optoelectronics , dielectric spectroscopy , transmission electron microscopy , chromatography , engineering
Triclinic CuWO 4 and Zn doped CuWO 4 nanocomposites have been synthesized by the solid state reaction method to evaluate the Photoelectrochemical (PEC) performance of the photoelectrodes. The existence of WO 3 along with CuWO 4 is affirmed by the XRD, XPS spectra and HRTEM images. PEC measurements showed that the generated photocurrent is found to be maximum of about 8.94 mA/cm 2 for Zn doped CuWO 4 whereas it is 2.63 mA/cm 2 for bare CuWO 4 electrode measured at 0.1 M of Na 2 SO 4 acts as a suitable electrolyte under the illumination. The carrier density (N d ) of the nanocomposites is determined by Mott‐Schottky plot that has n‐type conductivity for both the samples. The negative flat band potential of −0.52 V for Zn doped CuWO 4 might be attributed to decrease in depletion width. Zn doped CuWO 4 shows higher power conversion efficiency of about 3.95%. The solution resistance and charge transfer resistance of both the photoelectrodes were calculated using Nyquist plot and it is lower for Zn‐CuWO 4 which indicates better conductivity and electron transfer rate.