Browsing by Author "Marotti, Ricardo Enrique"

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    CVD Growth of Hematite Thin Films for Photoelectrochemical Water Splitting: Effect of Precursor-Substrate Distance on Their Final Properties
    (2023) Fernandez-Izquierdo, Leunam; Spera, Enzo Luigi; Duran, Boris; Marotti, Ricardo Enrique; Dalchiele, Enrique Ariel; del Rio, Rodrigo; Hevia, Samuel A.
    The development of photoelectrode materials for efficient water splitting using solar energy is a crucial research topic for green hydrogen production. These materials need to be abundant, fabricated on a large scale, and at low cost. In this context, hematite is a promising material that has been widely studied. However, it is a huge challenge to achieve high-efficiency performance as a photoelectrode in water splitting. This paper reports a study of chemical vapor deposition (CVD) growth of hematite nanocrystalline thin films on fluorine-doped tin oxide as a photoanode for photoelectrochemical water splitting, with a particular focus on the effect of the precursor-substrate distance in the CVD system. A full morphological, structural, and optical characterization of hematite nanocrystalline thin films was performed, revealing that no change occurred in the structure of the films as a function of the previously mentioned distance. However, it was found that the thickness of the hematite film, which is a critical parameter in the photoelectrochemical performance, linearly depends on the precursor-substrate distance; however, the electrochemical response exhibits a nonmonotonic behavior. A maximum photocurrent value close to 2.5 mA/cm(2) was obtained for a film with a thickness of around 220 nm under solar irradiation.