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Water splitting is an important method for hydrogen production. Notably, tantalum oxide has the potential to employ extensive variety appliances because of its outstanding electrical and optical properties. Tantalum pentoxide (Ta 2 O 5) nanopowders were produced using the sol–gel process. The effect of calcination time plays a main role on Ta 2 O 5 crystal structure configuration. Transmission electron microscope images explored obtained Ta 2 O 5 nanorod formation and investigated by electrochemical studies for its use in electrochemical water-splitting applications. The calculated specific capacitance values of Ta 2 O 5 electrodes at different temperature conditions were 146.4, 191.7, and 221.7 F/g. Fabricated Ta 2 O 5 electrodes showed overpotential of 304, 278, and 267 mV. Current densities of Ta 2 O 5 electrodes at different calcinations times were 353, 419, and 461 mA/g. Ta 2 O 5 powder calcined for 6 h revealed high specific capacitance and low overpotential, indicating better electrochemical reactivity suitable for water oxidation applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Photoelectrochemical (PEC) water splitting is beneficial and has received attractive attention due to a greater potential to generate hydrogen and oxygen from water by using plentiful solar light to solve the problem of energy crisis. Various active semiconductor materials are used in PEC water splitting applications. Nevertheless, in past decades, most of the researchers suggested that titanium oxide (TiO 2) is the best photoanode for this type of applications. Now, Zinc oxide (ZnO) is considered a perfect substitution to TiO 2 due to its comparable energy band structure and superior photogenerated electron transfer rate. In this study, bare and phosphorous-doped ZnO nanorods were successfully developed on fluorine-doped tin oxide-coated glass (FTO) substrate by chemical vapor deposition. X-ray diffraction (XRD) pattern authenticated hexagonal structure formation with strong diffraction peak of (101), which showed that ZnO nanorods were perfectly developed along c axis. The optical and morphological properties were analyzed by UV–Vis and scanning electron microscopy images. The energy-dispersive X-ray spectra demonstrated that doping agent phosphorous was present in ZnO nanorods. The PEC properties of the developed ZnO nanorods were further investigated and obtained results suggested that a small amount of phosphorous-doped ZnO nanorods enhances their PEC performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]