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Annealing temperature-dependent crystallinity and photocurrent response of anodic nanoporous iron oxide film

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 June 2016

Monna Rozana ,
Khairunisak Abdul Razak ,
Cheong Kuan Yew ,
Zainovia Lockman ,
Go Kawamura Open the ORCID record for Go Kawamura [Opens in a new window]  and
Atsunori Matsuda
Monna Rozana*
Affiliation:
Green Electronics Nanomaterials Group, Science and Engineering of Nanomaterials Team, School of Materials and Mineral Resources, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Penang 14300, Malaysia
Khairunisak Abdul Razak
Affiliation:
Green Electronics Nanomaterials Group, Science and Engineering of Nanomaterials Team, School of Materials and Mineral Resources, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Penang 14300, Malaysia
Cheong Kuan Yew
Affiliation:
Green Electronics Nanomaterials Group, Science and Engineering of Nanomaterials Team, School of Materials and Mineral Resources, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Penang 14300, Malaysia
Zainovia Lockman*
Affiliation:
Green Electronics Nanomaterials Group, Science and Engineering of Nanomaterials Team, School of Materials and Mineral Resources, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Penang 14300, Malaysia
Go Kawamura
Affiliation:
Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Toyohashi University of Technology, Aichi 441-8580, Japan
Atsunori Matsuda
Affiliation:
Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Toyohashi University of Technology, Aichi 441-8580, Japan
*
b)e-mail: [email protected]
a)Address all correspondence to these authors. e-mail: [email protected]
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Abstract

The effects of annealing temperatures on the structure and photocurrent response of nanoporous iron oxide film prepared by anodization of iron foil in an ethylene glycol, NH4F, and H2O electrolyte were studied. The as-anodized anodic film was found to be rather amorphous and crystallized to predominantly α-Fe2O3 upon annealing in nitrogen. Nitrogen was used as to reduce the thickening of the barrier layer which affects the photocurrent response of the oxide. However, annealing must be done above 300 °C to produce crystalline oxide but must be kept lower than 500 °C since high temperature promotes grain growth, destroying the nanoporous structure and also thickens the barrier layer, which significantly reduce the photocurrent of the film. Sample annealed at 450 °C in nitrogen has the highest photocurrent of 1.04 mA/cm2 (0.5 V versus Ag/AgCl in 1 M NaOH) compared to 0.13 mA/cm2 at 0.5 V for air-annealed sample.

Keywords

annealingfilmnanostructure
Type
Articles
Information
Journal of Materials Research , Volume 31 , Issue 12 , 28 June 2016 , pp. 1681 - 1690
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Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 2016 

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