Electrodeposited thin film SnO2 photoelectrode for PEC applications

Abstract

Tin oxide (SnO2) is a promising semiconductor material to develop photoelectrodes for photoelectrochemical (PEC) cells. Indeed, an effective PEC cell could be developed only if the photoelectrode is stable and free of corrosion in the selected electrolytic solution. In other words, the choice of an electrolyte for a PEC cell determines the stability of the photoelectrode in the PEC cell. In this study, we propose aqueous 0.1 M sodium nitrate (NaNO3) as an effective electrolyte for the PEC cell where thin film SnO2 is a photoelectrode. Current-voltage (I-V) measurements obtained by illuminated chopped ultra violate (UV) radiation established the electrodeposited thin films of SnO2 are stable and free of corrosion/photocorrosion in our PEC cell. In addition, we report the dependence of the photoresponses of electrodeposited thin film SnO2 in this PEC on the bath temperature and the deposition time.