Ceramic semiconductor photoelectrodes made of the Fe₂O₃-Nb₂O₅ solid solutions were synthesized. The spectral and capacitance-voltage characteristics of the photoelectrodes were determined, and the dynamic polarization with chopped light was investigated. The anodic photocurrent onset potential, the flat band potential and the shallow and deep donor density of these materials were determined. The threshold photon energies corresponding to the inter-band optical transitions near the edge of the fundamental absorption of the semiconductor photoelectrode were calculated. Analysis of the frequency dispersion of the real and imaginary parts of the complex impedance of photoelectrochemical cell was carried out. On the basis of this analysis, equivalent circuits describing the structure of the double electrical layer of the semiconductor - electrolyte interface were proposed and their parameters were calculated. The main limiting steps of the electrode processes, which determine the electrode polarization and current, are determined.

Date Published: 11 September 2006
PDF: 12 pages
Proc. SPIE 6340, Solar Hydrogen and Nanotechnology, 63400M (11 September 2006); doi: 10.1117/12.679550

Published in SPIE Proceedings Vol. 6340:
Solar Hydrogen and Nanotechnology
Lionel Vayssieres, Editor(s)