Synthesis and photoelectrochemical properties of tungsten oxide arrays with a snowflake-like hierarchical structure

In this study, we successfully fabricated well-aligned WO3 snowflake-like hierarchical arrays (SHAs) with (020) facet perpendicular to FTO substrate. The fabricated samples were characterized by XRD, SEM, and UV-vis. The SHA photoanode exhibited an impressive photocurrent density of 2.43 mA & BULL;cm  2 at 1.23 V vs RHE, which is 1.76 times higher than the sandwich-like structures (SSs). This improved performance can be attributed to the special SHAs and the preferred orientation, which would effectively promote the separation and transfer of carriers.

Automated summary

This study successfully fabricated well-aligned WO3 snowflake-like hierarchical arrays with (020) facet perpendicular to the FTO substrate. The fabricated samples were characterized by XRD, SEM, and UV-vis. The SHA photoanode exhibited an impressive photocurrent density of 2.43 mA·cm^-2 at 1.23 V vs RHE, which is 1.76 times higher than the sandwich-like structures. This improved performance can be attributed to the special SHAs and the preferred orientation, which would effectively promote the separation and transfer of carriers.