Investigations on Photoelectrochemical Performance of Boron doped ZnO Nanorods Synthesized by Facile Hydrothermal Technique

摘要

Undoped and 10% Boron (B)-doped Zinc Oxide nanorods (ZnO NRs) on Tin doped Indium Oxide (ITO) coated glass substrates were synthesized using facile sol-gel, spin coating and hydrothermal method. The impact of adding Boron on the structtural, optical properties, surface morphology and photoelectrochemical (PEC) performances of the ZnO NRs have been investigated. The XRD pattern confirmed the formation of pure hexagonal phase with space group P63mc (186). The same can also be clearly observed form the FESEM images. The UV-Vis study shows the narrowing in band gap from 3.22 eV to 3.19 eV with incorporation of Boron in ZnO matrix. The B-doped ZnO NRs sample shows an enhanced photocurrent density of 1.31 mA/cm~2 at 0.5 V (vs. Ag/AgCl), which is more than 171% enhancement compared to bare ZnO NRs (0.483 mA/cm~2) in 0.1 M Na2S04 aqueous solution. The results clearly indicates that the boron doped ZnO NRs can be used as an efficient photoelectrode material for photoelectrochemical cell.