Cu NPs Decorated WO3/Bi2S3 as an Efficient Photoelectrode for Photoelectrochemical Water Oxidation

Meena, Bhagat Ram and Ch, Subrahmanyam (2018) Cu NPs Decorated WO3/Bi2S3 as an Efficient Photoelectrode for Photoelectrochemical Water Oxidation. Masters thesis, Indian Institute of Technology, Hyderabad.

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Abstract

Photoelectrochemical cell (PEC) water splitting has become a favorite way for energy production in the form of chemical fuel. In this work, WO3/Bi2S3, WO3/Bi2S3/Cu, In-situ WO3/Cu/Bi2S3, ex-situWO3/Cu/Bi2S3and WO3/Cu/Bi2S3/Cu composite photoelectrodes were fabricated by facile methods like hydrothermal and drop casting followed by SILAR methods. The resulting composite of In-situ WO3/Cu/Bi2S3 exhibit superior photoelectrochemical activities compared to the other electrodes due to their efficient charge separation and transportation. Impressively, the In-situ WO3/Cu/Bi2S3photoanode achieved a high photocurrent density of 10.5 mA cm-2at 1.23 V versus reversible hydrogen electrode (RHE), and photo-conversion efficiency of 4.21 % compared to the photoanodes. Furthermore, the In-situ WO3/Cu/Bi2S3photoanode also has less charge transfer resistance compared to the WO3/Bi2S3, WO3/Bi2S3/Cu, ex-situWO3/Cu/Bi2S3and WO3/Cu/Bi2S3/Cu composite. Since the Cu NPs has higher electrical conductivity, it can improvethe charge transfer to excite electrons from Bi2S3 to WO3 electrode, which may contribute to the overall PEC activity. This new composite develops superior photoelectrochemical performance, suggesting being a useful strategy for hydrogen evolution through water oxidation. Powder X-ray diffraction (XRD), Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscope (FE-SEM) and High-Resolution Transmission Electron Microscope (HR-TEM) confirmed the successfully prepared materials.

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