Band gap optimization of tin tungstate thin films for solar water oxidation

Awakening the Photoelectrochemical Activity of α‐SnWO4 Photoanodes with Extraordinary Crystallinity Induced by Reductive Annealing

“…[7,31] This number is way smaller than the photocurrents of about 0.3-1.0 mA cm À2 obtained with films prepared by physical depositions such as PLD and magnetron sputtering. [21,22] The annealing to the powder samples greatly enhances the PEC efficiency of the α-SnWO 4 nanoplates. Particularly, the photocurrents show a strong dependence on the annealing temperature and the atmosphere (Figure 2a and Figure S1, Supporting Information).…”

“…[19][20][21] In contrast, there are reports of α-SnWO 4 thin-film preparation via magnetron sputtering and pulsed laser deposition techniques. [22][23][24] Interestingly, it seems only the dry deposition approaches could produce α-SnWO 4 with observable PEC activities. [25] All previous attempts made with the wet-chemistry prepared materials only exhibited barely observable photocurrents, even including thin films converted from WO 3 .…”

Thin film transition metal dichalcogenide photoelectrodes for solar hydrogen evolution: a review

“…119 In addition, the losses at the PEC (quartz or glass) window due to light scattering/reflection and absorption in the electrolyte can be in the range of 10–20%. 9 Therefore, a suitable design of the PEC cell is required to maximize the efficiency.…”

“…However, the solar-to hydrogen (STH) efficiency of BiVO 4 (9%) is limited by its large band gap of 2.5 eV, which allows for voltages much higher than the voltage required for splitting water (1.23 eV), i.e., a large amount of the solar energy is wasted since it is not absorbed. 7,8 Various groups are working on alternative ternary oxides (CuBi 2 O 4 and SnWO 4 ) with smaller band gaps (1.7-1.9 eV), 7,[9][10][11][12] which could be alternatives to BiVO 4 . Another solution path is the use of transition metal dichalcogenides (MoS 2 , WS 2 , MoSe 2 , and WSe 2 ), which exhibit better-suited band gaps (1-2 eV) for water splitting and show excellent light absorption properties.…”

Nail-like α-SnWO4 Array Film with Increased Reactive Facets for Photoelectrochemical Water Splitting

“…Kölbach et al used SnO and WO 3 as targets to deposit α-SnWO 4 using a pulsed laser with a photocurrent of ∼100 μA/cm 2 (1.23 V vs RHE) . Bozheyev et al formed a film by magnetron cosputtering using Sn and W targets, but some SnO x particles were seen on the surface of SnWO 4 . There are few reports about the chemical method to prepare α-SnWO 4 film electrodes.…”