Optical properties and photoelectrocatalytic activities improvement of WO3 thin film fabricated by fixed-potential deposition method

Abstract

A tungsten oxide (WO3) photoanode electrode fabricated on conducting glass substrate was developed by a fixed-potential deposition (FPD) method to improve the optical properties and photoelectrocatalytic water oxidation efficiency. The effects of applied potential, deposition time, and calcination temperature were optimized for the highest photocurrent from the water oxidation process. The characteristics of the WO3 thin film were studied to confirm and understand the improvement in photoelectrocatalytic properties. The result shows that the optical properties and photoelectrocatalytic activity of the WO3 thin film fabrication are directly depended with an applied potential, deposition time, and calcination temperature parameters. The optimized WO3 photoanode electrode prepared by the FPD method shows significant optical properties and photoelectrocatalytic activity improvement over the traditional spin-coating method. The developed WO3 thin film fabrication by FPD method presents the photoelectrocatalytic oxidation reaction enhancing due to the visible light absorption, morphology, and crystalline structure improvement. This research can be further developed to improve the efficiency of thin film semiconductor fabrication for energy and environmental applications.