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Morphologically different WO3 nanocrystals in photoelectrochemical water oxidation

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Abstract

Different morphologies of WO3 nanocrystals such as nanorods and nanoplates have been obtained under hydrothermal conditions using ammonium metatungstate as the precursor in presence of different organic acids such as citric, oxalic, and tartaric acid in the reaction medium. Detailed characterization of the crystal structure, particle morphology, and optical band gap of the synthesized powders have been done by X-ray diffraction, transmission electron microscopy, scanning electron microscopy and solid-state UV–visible spectroscopy study. The as-synthesized materials are WO3 hydrates with orthorhombic phase which transform to the hexagonal WO3 through dehydration upon heating at 350 °C. The resultant products are crystalline with nanoscale dimensions. Finally, the photoactivity of the synthesized materials annealed at 500 °C has been compared employing in photoelectrochemical water oxidation under the illumination of AM 1.5G simulated solar light (100 mWcm−2). The photocurrent measurements upon irradiation of light exhibit obvious photocatalytic activity with a photocurrent of about 0.77, 0.61, and 0.65 mAcm−2 for the WO3 film derived with the oxalic acid, tartaric, and citric acid assisting agents, respectively, at 1.8 V versus Ag/AgCl electrode.

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Acknowledgments

This research (paper) has been done for the Hydrogen Energy R&D Center that is one of the twenty-first century Frontier R&D Programs funded by the Ministry of Science and Technology, Republic of Korea.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Advanced Chemical Technology Division, Korea Research Institute of Chemical Technology, Yusong, Daejeon, 305-600, Republic of Korea

    Soumya Kanti Biswas, Jin-Ook Baeg, Sang-Jin Moon, Ki-jeong Kong & Won-Wook So

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  1. Soumya Kanti Biswas
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  2. Jin-Ook Baeg
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  3. Sang-Jin Moon
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  4. Ki-jeong Kong
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  5. Won-Wook So
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Correspondence to Jin-Ook Baeg.

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Biswas, S.K., Baeg, JO., Moon, SJ. et al. Morphologically different WO3 nanocrystals in photoelectrochemical water oxidation. J Nanopart Res 14, 667 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11051-011-0667-6

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