Highly efficient and photostable photocathodes based on CuWO 4/Cu 2 O nanostructured thin films‏

Highly efficient and photostable photocathodes based on CuWO₄/Cu₂O nanostructured thin films‏

Mohamad Mohsen Momeni, Yousef Ghayeb, Majid Menati

Abstract

Nanostructured CuWO4/Cu2O thin films have been developed and used as photocathodes in photoelectrochemical water splitting. Bare Cu2O and CuWO4/Cu2O have been prepared by wet chemical oxidation method. The photocurrent density and photostability of CuWO4/Cu2O significantly increased in comparison with bare Cu2O, according to the results. The photocurrent density values of bare Cu2O and optimized CuWO4/Cu2O samples were 0.8 and 1.8 mA/cm2 (at − 0.6 V vs. Ag/AgCl), respectively. In addition, the remaining photocurrent of optimized CuWO4/Cu2O photocathode was 72% following 1000 s chronoamperometry test, which was over five times greater than that of bare Cu2O photocathode (12.5%). Field emission scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, ultraviolet visible (UV–Vis), Fourier transform infrared and Raman spectroscopy were used to …

Journal of the Iranian Chemical Society