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2020 Vol.30, Issue 9
Zinc Oxide Nanostructured Thin Film as an Efficient Photoanode for Photoelectrochemical Water Oxidation
Jong-Hyun Park
,
Hyojin Kim†
Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Chungnam National University, Daeduk Science Town, Daejeon 34134, Republic of Korea
†Corresponding author E-Mail : hyojkim@cnu.ac.kr (H. Kim, Chungnam Nat’l Univ.)
September 2020. pp. 441-446
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Abstract

Synthesizing nanostructured thin films of oxide semiconductors is a promising approach to fabricate highly efficient photoelectrodes for hydrogen production via photoelectrochemical (PEC) water splitting. In this work, we investigate the feasibility as an efficient photoanode for PEC water oxidation of zinc oxide (ZnO) nanostructured thin films synthesized via a simple method combined with sputtering Zn metallic films on a fluorine-doped tin oxide (FTO) coated glass substrate and subsequent thermal oxidation of the sputtered Zn metallic films in dry air. Characterization of the structural, optical, and PEC properties of the ZnO nanostructured thin film synthesized at varying Zn sputtering powers reveals that we can obtain an optimum ZnO nanostructured thin film as PEC photoanode at a sputtering power of 40 W. The photocurrent density and optimal photocurrent conversion efficiency for the optimum ZnO nanostructured thin film photoanode are found to be 0.1 mA/cm2 and 0.51 %, respectively, at a potential of 0.72 V vs. RHE. Our results illustrate that the ZnO nanostructured thin film has promising potential as an efficient photoanode for PEC water splitting.

Keywords
oxide semiconductor
zinc oxide
nanostructure
photoanode
photoelectrchemical water splitting
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Information
  • Publisher :Materials Research Society of Korea
  • Publisher(Ko) :한국재료학회
  • Journal Title :Korean Journal of Materials Research
  • Journal Title(Ko) :한국재료학회지
  • Volume : 30
  • No :9
  • Pages :441-446
  • Received Date : 2020-07-13
  • Revised Date : 2020-08-12
  • Accepted Date : 2020-08-20
  • DOI :https://doi.org/10.3740/MRSK.2020.30.9.441
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