NH4-doped anodic WO3 prepared through anodization and subsequent NH4OH treatment for water splitting

Abstract

Tungsten trioxide (WO3) prepared by anodization of a W foil was doped with NH4 through NH4OH treatment at 450°C. Since aqueous NH4OH was used during doping instead of NH3 gas, the treatment step does not require complicated annealing facilities. Moreover, the state of doped N is a form of NH3-W instead of W2N, which lowers the bandgap but increases photocorrosion. We found that incorporation of NH4 into WO3 leads to reduction of the bandgap from 2.9eV to 2.2eV, regardless of the amount of NH4OH treatment, lowering the onset potential and increasing the current density at fixed potential for oxygen evolution reaction under illumination. Scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy were employed to investigate the surface morphologies, crystallinities of tungsten oxides and existence of NH4 doping, respectively. The bandgap energy was determined by UV–Vis spectroscopy to measure the transmittance and refraction. The water splitting performance of each sample was measured by electrochemical linear sweep voltammetry in a 3-electrode configuration under illumination.