Realization of nanostructured N-doped p-type Bi2O3 thin films

Abstract

N-doped p-type porous Bi2O3 nanoplates thin films (NPTFs) were firstly synthesized on FTO substrates through chemical bath deposition (CBD) followed by a thermal treatment process under a NH3 ambient. Hall effect results indicated the formation of p-type porous Bi2O3 NPTFs, and the best conductivity was achieved by N-doping with a higher carrier concentration, a lower resistivity, and an extremely close mobility compared with the undoped one. Mott–Schottky measurements further confirmed the p-type conductivity. The characteristics of optical and photoelectrochemical curves demonstrated that the N-doped porous Bi2O3 NPTFs were p-type with a smaller bandgap than the undoped n-type one, and the highest photocurrent density could reach 50μA/cm2 under the light intensity kept at 30mW/cm2. Thus N-doped p-type porous Bi2O3 NPTFs are promising candidates for photoelectrochemical applications.