Array fabrication and photoelectrochemical properties of Sn-doped vertically oriented hematite nanorods for solar cells

We report on the synthesis and characterization of Sn-doped hematite nanorods as well as their implementation as the photoanode for solar cells. Hematite nanorods are prepared on fluorine-doped tin oxide (FTO) substrates by a hydrothermal method, followed by a two-step sintering in air, and Sn-doping is achieved by adding SnCl4 into the mixture solution during the hydrothermal process. In comparison to un-doped hematite, Sn-doped hematite nanorods exhibit a higher array growth density along the direction [110], which indicates that the Sn-doping can facilitate the vertically oriented growth of the hematite nanorod arrays; moreover, the Sn-doping can result in enhanced photocurrent density and photoelectrical efficiency due to the improved carrier density. These new findings will provide new information to enhance the photoelectrochemical characteristics of hematite, one of the best potential photoanode materials.

[1]  David M. Sherman,et al.  Band-gap measurements of bulk and nanoscale hematite by soft x-ray spectroscopy , 2009 .

[2]  Anders Hagfeldt,et al.  Controlled Aqueous Chemical Growth of Oriented Three-Dimensional Crystalline Nanorod Arrays: Application to Iron(III) Oxides , 2001 .

[3]  Akira Watanabe,et al.  Photoanodic properties of sol-gel-derived Fe2O3 thin films containing dispersed gold and silver particles , 2003 .

[4]  Anke Weidenkaff,et al.  Photoelectrochemical water splitting with mesoporous hematite prepared by a solution-based colloidal approach. , 2010, Journal of the American Chemical Society.

[5]  Michel Dupuis,et al.  Charge Transport in Metal Oxides: A Theoretical Study of Hematite α-Fe2O3 , 2005 .

[6]  W. H. Butler,et al.  Electronic and magnetic structure of transition-metal-doped α -hematite , 2005 .

[7]  Gehan A. J. Amaratunga,et al.  Nanostructured hematite photoelectrochemical electrodes prepared by the low temperature thermal oxidation of iron , 2011 .

[8]  Asif Ali Tahir,et al.  Nanostructured α-Fe2O3 Electrodes for Solar Driven Water Splitting : Effect of Doping Agents on Preparation and Performance , 2009 .

[9]  Nerine J. Cherepy,et al.  Ultrafast Studies of Photoexcited Electron Dynamics in γ- and α-Fe2O3 Semiconductor Nanoparticles , 1998 .

[10]  Marco Faccio,et al.  Porous Silica-Coated α-Fe2O3 Ceramics for Humidity Measurement at Elevated Temperature , 1996 .

[11]  Fu-Ren F. Fan,et al.  Rapid Screening of Effective Dopants for Fe2O3 Photocatalysts with Scanning Electrochemical Microscopy and Investigation of Their Photoelectrochemical Properties , 2009 .

[12]  Joop Schoonman,et al.  Solar hydrogen production with nanostructured metal oxides , 2008 .

[13]  Michael Grätzel,et al.  Anisotropic photocatalytic properties of hematite , 2009, Aquatic Sciences.

[14]  John T. L. Thong,et al.  Efficient field emission from α-Fe2O3 nanoflakes on an atomic force microscope tip , 2005 .

[15]  N. Lewis.  Toward Cost-Effective Solar Energy Use , 2007, Science.

[16]  Di Wu,et al.  Surfactant-assisted solvothermal preparation of submicrometer-sized hollow hematite particles and their photocatalytic activity , 2006 .

[17]  Jun Chen,et al.  α‐Fe2O3 Nanotubes in Gas Sensor and Lithium‐Ion Battery Applications , 2005 .

[18]  Michael Grätzel,et al.  Influence of Feature Size, Film Thickness, and Silicon Doping on the Performance of Nanostructured Hematite Photoanodes for Solar Water Splitting , 2009 .

[19]  Detlef W. Bahnemann,et al.  Photocatalytic oxidation of sulfur dioxide in aqueous suspensions of .alpha.-iron oxide (Fe2O3) , 1989 .

[20]  Michael Grätzel,et al.  New Benchmark for Water Photooxidation by Nanostructured α-Fe2O3 Films , 2006 .

[21]  A. Kudo,et al.  Heterogeneous photocatalyst materials for water splitting. , 2009, Chemical Society reviews.

[22]  John B. Goodenough,et al.  Electrochemistry and photoelectrochemistry of iron(III) oxide , 1983 .

[23]  Michael Grätzel,et al.  Solar water splitting: progress using hematite (α-Fe(2) O(3) ) photoelectrodes. , 2011, ChemSusChem.