Aryan Azad - ۲Department of Metallurgical and Materials Engineering, Middle East Technical University, Ankara ۰۶۸۰۰, Turkey
Sun Jae Kim - Faculty of Nanotechnology and Advanced Materials Engineering, Sejong University, Seoul ۱۴۳-۷۴۷, South Korea.

Photocatalytic water splitting using sunlight is a promising path for hydrogen energy generation without pollutant byproducts. However, the factors such as energy loss related to the fast recombination of the photogenerated charge carriers, electrode degradation, and limited light harvesting originates laboriouschallenges for improving solar fuel water splitting efficiency. In this research, a new photoanode was fabricated by layer by layer (LBL) and hydrothermal (HT)methods continuously. It is shown that the novel synthesis method using hematite (α-Fe2O3) and TiO2 enhanced photocatalytic activity by increasing charge transfer, visible light absorption, reducing the gas evolution overpotential and maintaining chemical and physical stability.

Photoelectrochemical water-splitting, Hematite (α-Fe2O3), Hydrothermal method, layer by layer (LBL) method.