Spray pyrolysis of CuBi2O4 photocathodes: Improved solution chemistry for highly homogeneous thin films

Fuxian Wang; Abdelkrim Chemseddine; Fatwa F. Abdi; Roel Van De Krol; Sean P. Berglund

doi:10.1039/c7ta03009f

Spray pyrolysis of CuBi₂O₄ photocathodes: Improved solution chemistry for highly homogeneous thin films

Fuxian Wang
, Abdelkrim Chemseddine
, Fatwa F. Abdi
, Roel Van De Krol
, Sean P. Berglund^*

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Journal Publications and Reviews › RGC 21 - Publication in refereed journal › peer-review

98 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Dense, homogeneous CuBi₂O₄ thin films are prepared, for the first time, by spray pyrolysis. Major challenges related to the chemical stability of the precursor solution and spreading behavior of the sprayed droplets are revealed and addressed. Triethyl orthoformate (TEOF) is added as a water scavenger to avoid fast hydrolysis and polycondensation of bismuth ions in the precursor solution, thereby reducing powder formation during the spray deposition process. Polyethylene glycol (PEG) is used to improve the spreading behavior of sprayed droplets over the entire CuBi₂O₄ film surface, which prevents powder formation completely and allows for the deposition of dense, homogeneous films with thicknesses over 420 nm. These highly uniform CuBi₂O₄ thin films are well-suited for fundamental studies on the optical and photoelectrochemical properties. Additionally, they produce record photocurrent densities for CuBi₂O₄ up to 2.0 mA cm^-2 under AM1.5 simulated sunlight along with incident photon-to-current efficiency (IPCE) and absorbed photon-to-current efficiency (APCE) values up to 14% and 23%, respectively (for 550 nm light at 0.6 V_RHE with H₂O₂ as an electron scavenger). © 2017 The Royal Society of Chemistry.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	12838-12847
Journal	Journal of Materials Chemistry A
Volume	5
Issue number	25
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1039/c7ta03009f
Publication status	Published - 2017
Externally published	Yes

Bibliographical note

Publication details (e.g. title, author(s), publication statuses and dates) are captured on an “AS IS” and “AS AVAILABLE” basis at the time of record harvesting from the data source. Suggestions for further amendments or supplementary information can be sent to [email protected].

Funding

Fuxian Wang thanks the Oversea Study Program of the Guangzhou Elite Project (GEP, Guangzhou, China) for financial support. Part of this work is supported by the German Bundesministerium für Bildung and Forschung (BMBF), project “MeOx4H2” (03SF0478A).

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title = "Spray pyrolysis of CuBi2O4 photocathodes: Improved solution chemistry for highly homogeneous thin films",

abstract = "Dense, homogeneous CuBi2O4 thin films are prepared, for the first time, by spray pyrolysis. Major challenges related to the chemical stability of the precursor solution and spreading behavior of the sprayed droplets are revealed and addressed. Triethyl orthoformate (TEOF) is added as a water scavenger to avoid fast hydrolysis and polycondensation of bismuth ions in the precursor solution, thereby reducing powder formation during the spray deposition process. Polyethylene glycol (PEG) is used to improve the spreading behavior of sprayed droplets over the entire CuBi2O4 film surface, which prevents powder formation completely and allows for the deposition of dense, homogeneous films with thicknesses over 420 nm. These highly uniform CuBi2O4 thin films are well-suited for fundamental studies on the optical and photoelectrochemical properties. Additionally, they produce record photocurrent densities for CuBi2O4 up to 2.0 mA cm-2 under AM1.5 simulated sunlight along with incident photon-to-current efficiency (IPCE) and absorbed photon-to-current efficiency (APCE) values up to 14\% and 23\%, respectively (for 550 nm light at 0.6 VRHE with H2O2 as an electron scavenger). {\textcopyright} 2017 The Royal Society of Chemistry.",

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T2 - Improved solution chemistry for highly homogeneous thin films

AU - Wang, Fuxian

AU - Chemseddine, Abdelkrim

AU - Abdi, Fatwa F.

AU - Van De Krol, Roel

AU - Berglund, Sean P.

N1 - Publication details (e.g. title, author(s), publication statuses and dates) are captured on an “AS IS” and “AS AVAILABLE” basis at the time of record harvesting from the data source. Suggestions for further amendments or supplementary information can be sent to [email protected].

PY - 2017

Y1 - 2017

N2 - Dense, homogeneous CuBi2O4 thin films are prepared, for the first time, by spray pyrolysis. Major challenges related to the chemical stability of the precursor solution and spreading behavior of the sprayed droplets are revealed and addressed. Triethyl orthoformate (TEOF) is added as a water scavenger to avoid fast hydrolysis and polycondensation of bismuth ions in the precursor solution, thereby reducing powder formation during the spray deposition process. Polyethylene glycol (PEG) is used to improve the spreading behavior of sprayed droplets over the entire CuBi2O4 film surface, which prevents powder formation completely and allows for the deposition of dense, homogeneous films with thicknesses over 420 nm. These highly uniform CuBi2O4 thin films are well-suited for fundamental studies on the optical and photoelectrochemical properties. Additionally, they produce record photocurrent densities for CuBi2O4 up to 2.0 mA cm-2 under AM1.5 simulated sunlight along with incident photon-to-current efficiency (IPCE) and absorbed photon-to-current efficiency (APCE) values up to 14% and 23%, respectively (for 550 nm light at 0.6 VRHE with H2O2 as an electron scavenger). © 2017 The Royal Society of Chemistry.

AB - Dense, homogeneous CuBi2O4 thin films are prepared, for the first time, by spray pyrolysis. Major challenges related to the chemical stability of the precursor solution and spreading behavior of the sprayed droplets are revealed and addressed. Triethyl orthoformate (TEOF) is added as a water scavenger to avoid fast hydrolysis and polycondensation of bismuth ions in the precursor solution, thereby reducing powder formation during the spray deposition process. Polyethylene glycol (PEG) is used to improve the spreading behavior of sprayed droplets over the entire CuBi2O4 film surface, which prevents powder formation completely and allows for the deposition of dense, homogeneous films with thicknesses over 420 nm. These highly uniform CuBi2O4 thin films are well-suited for fundamental studies on the optical and photoelectrochemical properties. Additionally, they produce record photocurrent densities for CuBi2O4 up to 2.0 mA cm-2 under AM1.5 simulated sunlight along with incident photon-to-current efficiency (IPCE) and absorbed photon-to-current efficiency (APCE) values up to 14% and 23%, respectively (for 550 nm light at 0.6 VRHE with H2O2 as an electron scavenger). © 2017 The Royal Society of Chemistry.

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