Effect of TiCl 4 treatment on the photoelectrochemical properties of LaTiO 2N electrodes for water splitting under visible light

• Published in: Thin solid films Vol. 518; no. 20; pp. 5855 - 5859
• Main Authors: Nishimura, Naoyuki, Raphael, Biet, Maeda, Kazuhiko, Le Gendre, Laurent, Abe, Ryu, Kubota, Jun, Domen, Kazunari
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier B.V 2010
• Subjects: Calcination; Lanthanum titanium oxynitride; Oxynitride; Photocurrent; Photoelectrode; Powders; Scanning electron microscopy; Titanium chloride; Water splitting; Scanning electron microscopy; Water splitting; Powders; Photocurrent; Lanthanum titanium oxynitride; Titanium chloride; Calcination; Photoelectrode; Oxynitride
• ISSN: 0040-6090; 1879-2731
• DOI: 10.1016/j.tsf.2010.05.094

A lanthanum titanium oxynitride (LaTiO 2N) electrode was studied as a visible-light driven photoelectrode for water splitting. The electrode was prepared by casting a LaTiO 2N powder on a fluorine-doped tin oxide glass substrate, followed by calcination under dinitrogen. The as-prepared electrode exhibited an anodic photocurrent based on water oxidation under visible-light irradiation ( λ > 420 nm) in an electrolyte (Na 2SO 4) solution. This current was increased by post-treatment with titanium(IV) chloride (TiCl 4) solution. Scanning electron microscopy and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy revealed that the titanium species introduced by the post-treatment were titanium oxide, and that they were embedded within LaTiO 2N particles. Resistance measurements of LaTiO 2N electrodes suggested that the increase in the electrode photocurrent after TiCl 4 treatment was due to the improvement of inter-particle electron transfer in the LaTiO 2N thin film.