The alpha (α)-hematite (Fe2O3) as photoanode has been used for photoelectrochemical applications due to low bandgap, low cost, high chemical stability, nontoxicity, and abundance in nature. The doping with various transition metals, formation of nanostructured and nanocomposite of α-Fe2O3 have been attempted to enrich the carrier mobility, surface kinetics and carrier diffusion properties. The manuscript is an attempt to improve the photoelectrochemical properties of α-Fe2O3 by formation of nanocomposite with dichalcogenide (molybdenum disulfide (MoS2) nanomaterials. The nanocomposite of MoS2-α-Fe2O3 have been synthesized by varying the amount of MoS2 in sol-gel synthesis process. The nanocomposite MoS2-α-Fe2O3 materials were characterized using UV-visible, FTIR, SEM, X-ray diffraction, Raman and particle analyzer. The photoelectrochemical properties were investigated using cyclic voltammetry and chronoamperometry studies. The optical and structural properties of MoS2-α-Fe2O3 nanocomposite have been found to be dependent on MoS2 doping. The band gap has shifted whereas;the structure is more prominent as flower-like morphology, which is a result of doping of MoS2. The photocurrent is more pronounced with and without light exposition to MoS2-α-Fe2O3 based electrode in photoelectrochemical cell. We have understood the photoelectrochemical water splitting using nanocomposite α-Fe2O3-MoS2 through schematic representation based on experimental results. The enhanced photoelectrochemical properties of nanocomposite α-Fe2O3-MoS2 films have been observed as compared to pristine α-Fe2O3 and transition metal doped α-Fe2O3 nanostructured films.
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