Photoelectrochemical water splitting is of great attention due to its environmental friendly generation of clean fuels. Hematite (α-Fe 2 O 3 ) is considered one of the promising candidates due to its intrinsic properties for the high performance photoelectrochemical electrode such as favourable bandgap (2.0-2.2 eV), a suitable energy band position, non-toxicity, low cost, and excellent chemical stability. Herein, we report about Sn-doped hematite nanorods and their implementation as photoanodes for photoelectrochemical water splitting. We provide the simple but efficient route to incorporate the Sn into the hematite without structural damage in the nanostructure and scrutinize the effect of Sn dopant on the photoelectrochemical activity of the hematite. By the two-step heattreatment process, Sn can be successfully incorporated into the hematite, which reveals the enhanced photoelectrochemical responses compared with undoped hematite. We elaborate the effect of Sn dopant in the hematite on the photoelectrochemical activities, thereby the optimum concentration of Sn dopant can be suggested. In addition, the catalyst layer of the cobalt phosphate is introduced to further increase the photoelectrochemical performance of Sn-doped hematite nanorods.
Co-based (Co75Si15B10) thin-film metallic glass (TFMG) with nanometric thicknesses (100~300 nm) was investigated for its structural, electrical, and optical properties. The TFMG structure was examined using scanning electron microscopy and X-ray diffraction, while electrical properties were examined using inductance/capacitance/resistance spectroscopy, cyclic voltammetry, and Hall effect measurements. In addition, optical absorption/reflection/transmittance measurements were performed to examine optical properties. Results revealed that Co-based TFMGs, which have an amorphous structure without surface defects, behave like a dielectric material, with higher resistivity and much lower carrier concentration than pure cobalt (Co) thin films of the same thickness, despite its mobility being modestly larger than its Co counterparts. Meanwhile, the optical investigation of TFMG enabled us to determine the complex relative permittivity (complex relative dielectric constant) ϵr˜ at a visible wavelength (632.8 nm). Moreover, unlike normal metals, TFMGs exhibited a large positive value of the real part of ϵr˜, while exhibiting properties of substantial absorption of light (absorption coefficient α). It was also found that the Co-based TFMG gained optical transparency for thicknesses less than 5 nm. TFMGs demonstrated the nearly thickness-independent properties of the electrical and optical parameters probed, a feature of high-index, dielectric-like material with negligible size effects, which may have applications in micrometer-scaled optoelectronic and magneto-optical devices.
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