The influence of the film thickness of nanostructured α-Fe2O3 on water photooxidation

Abstract

The present work shows the influence of the film thickness in the optical and photoelectrochemical properties of nanostructured α-Fe₂O₃ thin film. We found that the film thickness has a strong influence on the optical absorption and the results here reported can help in the design of nanostructured α-Fe₂O₃ with superior performance for water photo-oxidation. The results show that the optical property of the hematite film is affected by the film thickness, probably due to the stress induced by the strong interaction between film and substrate. This stress generates defects in the crystal lattice of the hematite film, increasing the (e⁻)–(h⁺) recombination process.