Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-t5tsf Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-13T05:26:05.349Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Zinc oxide-Iron-Aluminum nanostructured cover for photoelectrochemical water splitting

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  06 September 2017

L. Arriaga-Arjona*
Affiliation:
Division of Graduate Studies and Research. Instituto Tecnológico de Toluca - TecNM - SEP. Av. Tecnológico s/n. Colonia Agrícola Buenavista. C.P.52149.México.
G. Carbajal-Franco
Affiliation:
Division of Graduate Studies and Research. Instituto Tecnológico de Toluca - TecNM - SEP. Av. Tecnológico s/n. Colonia Agrícola Buenavista. C.P.52149.México.
Get access

Abstract

The purpose of this research is to study the viability of photocatalytic water splitting using ASTM A792 Zn-Al-Fe commercial metallic sheets as substrates for electrodeposited and corroded electrodes. The nanostructures were synthesized in two different procedures: via electrodeposition of migrating species from one electrode to another and from the remaining materials after corrosion of electrodes during electrodeposition, both procedures were done immersing the metallic electrodes in FeCl3 salts dissolved in water as cell electrolyte. The released or remaining Zinc-Aluminum-Iron can be used for the construction of nanostructures or as co-catalyst on the coating over the substrate. Actual EDS-SEM data reveals incorporation of Zinc on dendrite-like structures with traces of Al-Fe due to material release and further electrodeposition on working electrode, meanwhile, dendrite-like structures with an increased amount of Iron were obtained from the corrosion in the auxiliary electrode. Finally, samples were tested with lineal voltammetry to measure the photocurrent activity as indicator of photocatalytic viability for water splitting, obtaining an improvement of 31 mA/cm2 over natural photovoltaic current generation of substrates with higher Zinc concentrations under UV-Visible radiation.

Keywords

Type
Articles
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 2017 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

Ismail, A.A., Bahnemann, D.W. (2014). Photochemical splitting of water for hydrogen production by photocatalysis: A review. Solar energy materials & solar cells. 128. 85101. Doi: 10.1016/j.solmat.2014.04.037 Google Scholar
Abe, R. (2010). Recent progress on photocatalytic and photoelectrochemical water splitting under visible light irradiation. J. Photochem, Photobiol. C 11. 179–209. Doi: 10.1016/j.jphotochemrev.2011.02.003 Google Scholar
Guozhong, K. (2004). Nanostructures and nanomaterials, Synthesis, properties, and applications. Imperial College Press, 144151. ISBN 1-86094-415-9. ISBN 1-86094-480-9 (pbk).Google Scholar
Gunasekaran, R.A., Gale, B. K. (2012). Electrochemical Deposition: Principles, methods and applications. University of Utah. Lecture 12. Retrieved from: http://www.eng.utah.edu/∼gale/mems/Lecture%2012%20Electrodeposition.pdf (Accessed on: 20 July 2017)Google Scholar
Qi, X., She, G., Wang, M., Mu, L., Shi, W. (2013). Electrochemical synthesis of p-type doped Zn-doped α-Fe2O3 nanotube arrays for photoelectrochemical water splitting. Chem. Commun. 49. 5742. Doi: 10.1039/c3cc40599k Google Scholar
ASTM A792/A792M. (2009). Standard Specification for Steel Sheet, 55% Aluminum-Zinc Alloy-Coated by the Hot Dip Process. ASTM International. 100 Barr Harbor Drive, PO Box C700, West Conshohocken, PA 19428–2959, United States.Google Scholar