Superior photoelectrochemical performance by antimony-doped ZnO thin films by AACVD approach.

Photoelectrochemical (PEC) water splitting is an emerging way for the production of H2, which has the ability to reduce the dependence on fossil fuels for the power generation and provide an ecologically safe storage of solar energy. Fabrication of photoelectrode is one of the major challenges to make PEC water splitting more effective and efficiently sustainable. In this article, we have focussed on the studies of antimony (Sb)-incorporated ZnO photoelectrodes and their evident effects in boosting the PEC water splitting activities using different concentrations of Sb incorporated on fluorine-doped tin oxide (FTO) via aerosol-assisted chemical vapour deposition method (AACVD). The as-deposited photoelectrodes were characterized by using different techniques and were applied for the water splitting. The incorporated thin films exhibited better light absorbance in the visible range, probably because of the generation of extra energy levels through metal incorporation. An enhanced PEC water splitting performance was observed by Sb-incorporated ZnO photoelectrodes as compared to pure ZnO. More specifically, 15% Sb-incorporated ZnO attained a photocurrent density of 0.99 mA cm−2 at 0.85 V vs. Ag/AgCl and maximum photo-stability that is quite greater as compared to pure ZnO (0.19 mA cm−2). This improvement was stated by the reduced bandgap and multifaceted morphological aspects of Sb-incorporated ZnO. In the production of simple and low-cost synthetic methods and effective electrode materials for PEC water splitting applications, these results are proved to be very helpful. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]