Hematite (a-Fe2O3) is a candidate photocatalyst for photoelectrochemical system due to its low cost and good chemical stability. With a smaller band gap (2.2 eV) 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. In addition, a-Fe2O3 possesses relatively low conductivity and a small hole diffusion length (2-4 nm), which results in rapid electron-hole recombination. Doping is an effective way to increase conductivity and hinder recombination. We used wet chemistry and co-deposition methods to synthesize a-Fe2O3 thin-film and uniform nanoparticles both doped with Co and Ni, and tested catalyst's performance towards water splitting in order to investigate a recent conjecture that such doping could improve the performance of a-Fe2O3 for photoelectrochemical water splitting.

Photoelectrochemical properties of Co- and Ni-doped α-Fe<sub>2</sub>O<sub>3</sub> for water splitting

244th National Meeting (2012)

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Photoelectrochemical properties of Co- and Ni-doped α-Fe2O3 for water splitting

Photoelectrochemical properties of Co- and Ni-doped α-Fe₂O₃ for water splitting