WO₃/α-Fe₂O₃/Bi₂S₃ Ternary Photoanode for Improved Oxygen Evolution Reaction in Photoelectrochemical Water Splitting

Authors

FATİH TEZCANFollow
ABRAR AHMADFollow
GÜLFEZA KARDAŞFollow

Abstract

This study presents a ternary WO₃/α-Fe₂O₃/Bi₂S₃ photoanode system suitable for photoelectrochemical water-splitting applications. The WO₃/α-Fe₂O₃ heterojunction is obtained using a hydrothermal approach, while Bi₂S₃ is deposited onto WO₃/α-Fe₂O₃ via the successive ionic layer adsorption and reaction (SILAR) method. The cycle count is adjusted to determine the optimal photocatalytic photoanode. X-ray diffraction analysis confirms different morphologies and phases for the photoelectrodes: WO₃ is deposited as plates with monoclinic phases, α-Fe₂O₃ as nanorods with hexagonal phases, and Bi₂S₃ in the form of nanoparticles (NPs) with orthorhombic phases. Solar light absorption spectra indicate that ternary WO₃/α-Fe₂O₃/Bi₂S₃ photoanodes absorb a larger portion of the solar spectrum and display a significant red shift in wavelength compared to binary WO₃/α-Fe₂O₃ photoanodes. Chronoamperometric and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy measurements indicate that the as-prepared WO₃/α-Fe₂O₃/Bi₂S₃ photoanode exhibits notable stability and low charge transfer resistance (R_ct) compared to binary electrodes and pristine WO₃ plates in faradaic photoelectrochemical conversion for the oxygen evolution reaction and S^2–/S₂ processes. Linear sweep voltammetry studies show that the WO₃/α-Fe₂O₃/Bi₂S₃ photoanode, sensitized with 8 SILAR cycles, achieves the maximum photocurrent density of 5.777 mA·cm^–2 at 1.0 V vs. RHE under 100 mW·cm^–2 simulated solar irradiation.

Author ORCID Identifier

FATİH TEZCAN: 0000-0001-7656-3529

ABRAR AHMAD: 0000-0001-8138-6264

GÜLFEZA KARDAŞ: 0000-0002-7871-6303

DOI

10.55730/1300-0527.3720

Keywords

Photoelectrode, ternary heterojunction, photoelectrochemical water splitting, hydrothermal, successive ionic layer adsorption and reaction (SILAR) method

First Page

176

Last Page

190

Publisher

The Scientific and Technological Research Council of Türkiye (TÜBİTAK)

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Recommended Citation

TEZCAN, F, AHMAD, A, & KARDAŞ, G (2025). WO₃/α-Fe₂O₃/Bi₂S₃ Ternary Photoanode for Improved Oxygen Evolution Reaction in Photoelectrochemical Water Splitting. Turkish Journal of Chemistry 49 (2): 176-190. https://doi.org/10.55730/1300-0527.3720