Photochemical deposition of silver on Fe2O3 nanotubes prepared by anodization and exploring their photoelectrochemical activity‏

Photochemical deposition of silver on Fe₂O₃ nanotubes prepared by anodization and exploring their photoelectrochemical activity‏

Mohamad Mohsen Momeni, Yousef Ghayeb, Akbar Hallaj, Robabeh Bagheri, Zhenlun Song

Abstract

Novel silver-decorated Fe2O3 nanotubes (Ag/FeNT) have been synthesized by a simple, fast and efficient method. Fe2O3 nanotubes (FeNT) have been successfully synthesized on pure iron plates by electrochemical anodizing, followed by silver deposition on the surface of the nanotubes through photodeposition. Various instrumental techniques have been used to investigate the morphology, structure and optical properties of the prepared samples. In addition, the photoelectrochemical water splitting performance of the new electrodes has been studied. An increased photocurrent density and a greatly enhanced onset potential for photoelectrochemical activity have been shown by Ag/FeNT electrodes in comparison with bare FeNT. Silver-decorated Fe2O3 nanotube (sample Ag/FeNT1) shows an almost 2.5-fold increase in photocurrent compared with bare Fe2O3 nanotube. Efficient charge carrier …

Applied Physics A