Photoelectrochemical water splitting over ordered honeycomb hematite electrodes stabilized by alumina shielding

Highly ordered, honeycomb-like iron oxide (hematite) films were fabricated by double-step anodic oxidation of iron foil. The honeycomb structure obtained by double step anodization was found to be more effective in producing a large area film with homogeneous pore distribution compared to nanotubes fabricated by the conventional single-step anodic oxidation process. To prevent agglomeration of the hematite film during the annealing process, a thin alumina layer was deposited on the hematite film surface by atomic layer deposition. With this alumina shielding and subsequent removal by alkaline treatment, one-dimensional (1-D) hematite nanostructure was preserved perfectly after annealing at 550 °C. This highly ordered 1-D nanostructure film showed much enhanced photoelectrochemical cell performances relative to hematite films with low degrees of ordering.