Electrochemical and Electrochromic Behavior of Reactively Sputtered Nickel Oxide

Nickel oxide thin films were deposited by reactive sputtering in a 20% oxygen/argon atmosphere for use as oxygen evolution catalysts in the photoelectrochemical production of hydrogen. The optical properties of the films were also characterized to evaluate their application as window layers. The polycrystalline films deposited at residual gas pressures of 6 or 10 mTorr exhibited moderate activity for oxygen evolution in 1 N KOH and pronounced coloration and bleaching during alternating anodic/cathodic bias. Properties of these films were not sensitive to growth rate over the range studied, 0.5 to 4 Å/s. In contrast, films deposited at 2 mTorr exhibited poor activity for oxygen evolution and severely limited electrochromic behavior which we attribute to marked changes in the morphology and crystallinity in the low‐pressure films. The films grown at 6 mTorr and higher tended to be more oriented, to have a higher degree of crystallinity, and higher oxygen content. Strong linkages between the electrochemical and optical behaviors observed in this work provide new insights into the processes involved in oxygen evolution reaction catalysis and electrochromism in reactively sputtered films. The results presented indicate that reactive sites located on or near grain boundaries are responsible for both behaviors.