PHOTOELECTROCHEMICAL PROPERTIES OF Co-AND Ni-DOPED –Fe2O3 FOR WATER SPLITTING

摘要

Hematite (a-Fe2O3) is a candidate photocatalyst for photoelectrochemical systems due to its low cost and good chemical stability. With a smaller band gap (2.2 eV [1]) than TiO2 and WO3, a-Fe2O3 is able to utilize solar light effectively, but the photocatalytic activity of a-Fe2O3 remains low because of electronic and structural drawbacks. Hematite has a conduction band edge at an energy level below the reversible hydrogen potential. a-Fe2O3 possesses low conductivity and a small hole diffusion length, which results in rapid electron-hole recombination. Doping is an effective way to increase conductivity and hinder recombination. We report here on results from doping Co and Ni into a-Fe2O3 nanoparticles (NPs) and thin films.