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Fabrication and enhancement in photoconductive response of \(\alpha\)-Fe2O3/graphene nanocomposites as anode material

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Abstract

We report a facile fabrication for the synthesis of graphene based α-Fe2O3 nanocomposites as anode material for photoelectrochemical water splitting. The effect of introduction of graphene as a solid-state electron material has been investigated in detail by controlling the synthesis parameters. The XRD pattern of hematite α-Fe2O3 nanoparticles were indexed to rhombohedral structure of α-Fe2O3, while the TEM images illustrate the flaky structure of graphene supported by hematite nanoparticles. The rGO/\(\alpha\)-Fe2O3 nanocomposites showed enhanced photocurrent of ~ 4 mA cm−2 at (1.23 V vs. RHE) under standard illumination conditions (AM 1.5 G 100 mW cm−2). The enhanced photoelectrochemical performance may be attributed to synergistic effect of graphene and \(\alpha\)-Fe2O3 by improving the charge transport properties. The optical properties were also observed to be influenced by the coupling of rGO and α-Fe2O3 composites as witnessed in the DRS spectra.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Soochow Institute for Energy and Materials Innovation, College of Physics, Optoelectronics and Energy, Soochow University, Suzhou, 215006, China

    Naveed Alam

  2. Department of Physics, University of Malakand, Chakdara, Pakistan

    Naveed Alam & Arif Ullah

  3. Nanosciences and Catalysis Division, National Center for Physics (NCP), Islamabad, Pakistan

    Yaqoob Khan

  4. Department of Advanced Materials Science & Engineering, Hanseo University, Seosan-si, Chungnam-do, Seosan, 356-706, South Korea

    Won Chun Oh

  5. Department of Applied Physical & Material Sciences, University of Swat, Swat, Pakistan

    Kefayat Ullah

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  1. Naveed Alam
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  2. Arif Ullah
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  3. Yaqoob Khan
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  5. Kefayat Ullah
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Alam, N., Ullah, A., Khan, Y. et al. Fabrication and enhancement in photoconductive response of \(\alpha\)-Fe2O3/graphene nanocomposites as anode material. J Mater Sci: Mater Electron 29, 17786–17794 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10854-018-9886-2

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