Facile Preparation of n-Type LaFeO3 Perovskite Film for Efficient Photoelectrochemical Water Splitting

The attempt to enhance the hydrogen production via light-driven water-splitting systems relies mostly on the innovative technologies and photoactive materials. Recently, due to the superior properties such as low price, adaptability, and thermal stability, perovskite materials have attracted much scientific and application attention in the field of photocatalysis. In this study, the n-type LaFeO3 perovskite is successfully fabricated by using simple sol-gel method and the corresponding photoanode is formed by dip-coating and calcinations. The prepared LaFeO3 is characterized using X-ray diffraction, ultraviolet-visible spectrophotometer, energy dispersive X-ray spectrum, scanning electron microscope, and Raman spectroscopy. The photocurrent density of the optimized LaFeO3 photoanode is up to 8.2 mAcm(-2) at 1.7 V vs. Ag/AgCl. The factors affecting their photocatalytic performance including the calcination temperature, the species, concentration and the pH of the electrolyte are evaluated under simulated AM 1.5G solar illumination. Our prepared LaFeO3 may enable the low-cost design of the durable photoelectrochemical cell for solar energy conversion.