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

• Published in: Journal of the Iranian Chemical Society Vol. 17; no. 3; pp. 701 - 715
• Main Authors: Momeni, Mohamad Mohsen, Ghayeb, Yousef, Menati, Majid
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Berlin/Heidelberg Springer Berlin Heidelberg 01-03-2020; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Analytical Chemistry; Biochemistry; Chemistry; Chemistry and Materials Science; Copper oxides; Density; Field emission microscopy; Fourier transforms; Inorganic Chemistry; Metal plates; Morphology; Nanostructure; Organic Chemistry; Original Paper; Oxidation; Photocathodes; Photoelectric effect; Photoelectric emission; Physical Chemistry; Raman spectroscopy; Silicon; Silver chloride; Spectrum analysis; Thin films; Water splitting; Cu; CuWO; Photoelectrochemical water splitting; Photocathode; O
• ISSN: 1735-207X; 1735-2428
• DOI: 10.1007/s13738-019-01807-y

Nanostructured CuWO
4
/Cu
2
O thin films have been developed and used as photocathodes in photoelectrochemical water splitting. Bare Cu
2
O and CuWO
4
/Cu
2
O have been prepared by wet chemical oxidation method. The photocurrent density and photostability of CuWO
4
/Cu
2
O significantly increased in comparison with bare Cu
2
O, according to the results. The photocurrent density values of bare Cu
2
O and optimized CuWO
4
/Cu
2
O samples were 0.8 and 1.8 mA/cm
2
(at − 0.6 V vs. Ag/AgCl), respectively. In addition, the remaining photocurrent of optimized CuWO
4
/Cu
2
O photocathode was 72% following 1000 s chronoamperometry test, which was over five times greater than that of bare Cu
2
O 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 characterize the films prepared. As the results indicate, micro-/nanostructures of various morphologies are formed on the copper plate surfaces.