Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Investigation of Photoelectrochemical Water Splitting for Mn-Doped In2O3 Film

  • Published:
Electronic Materials Letters Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Undoped and Mn-doped In2O3 films were prepared by radiofrequency magnetron sputtering technique. The effects of Mn doping on the structural and optical properties of as-prepared films were investigated using X-ray diffraction, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and ultraviolet–visible spectroscopy. Mn doping can enhance the intensity of (222) peak in Mn-doped In2O3 thin film, indicating Mn dopant promotes preferred orientation of crystal growth along (222) plane. XPS analyses revealed that the doped Mn ions exist at + 2 oxidation states, substituting for the In3+ sites in the In2O3 lattice. UV–Vis measurements show that the optical band gap Eg decreases from 3.33 to 2.87 eV with Mn doping in In2O3, implying an increasing sp–d exchange interaction in the film. Our work demonstrates a practical means to manipulate the band gap energy of In2O3 thin film via Mn impurity doping, and significantly improves the photoelectrochemical activity.

Graphical Abstract

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Jiao, Y., Zhang, X., Zhai, J., Yu, X., Ding, L., Zhang, W.: Bottom-gate amorphous In2O3 thin film transistors fabricated by magnetron sputtering. Electron. Mater. Lett. 9(3), 279 (2013)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  2. Meng, M., Wu, X., Ji, X., Gan, Z., Liu, L., Shen, J., Chu, P.K.: Ultrahigh quantum efficiency photodetector and ultrafast reversible surface wettability transition of square In2O3 nanowires. Nano Res. 10(8), 2772 (2017)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  3. Kim, B.-J., Song, I.-G., Kim, J.-S.: In2O3-based micro gas sensor for detecting NOx gases. Electron. Mater. Lett. 10(2), 509 (2014)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  4. Fujishima, A., Honda, K.: Electrochemical photolysis of water at a semiconductor electrode. Nature 238, 5358 (1972)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  5. Ţalu, S., Stach, S., Raoufi, D., Hosseinpanahi, F.: Film thickness effect on fractality of tin-doped In2O3 thin films. Electron. Mater. Lett. 11(5), 749 (2015)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  6. Zhang, M., Lin, Y., Mullen, T.J., Lin, W.F., Sun, L.D., Yan, C.H., Patten, T.E., Wang, D., Liu, G.Y.: Improving hematite’s solar water splitting efficiency by incorporating rare-earth upconversion nanomaterials. J. Phys. Chem. Lett. 3(21), 3188 (2012)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. Fominykh, K., Chernev, P., Zaharieva, I., Sicklinger, J., Stefanic, G., Döblinger, M., Müller, A., Pokharel, A., Böcklein, S., Scheu, C., Bein, T., Fattakhova-Rohlfing, D.: Iron-doped nickel oxide nanocrystals as highly efficient electrocatalysts for alkaline water splitting. ACS Nano 9(5), 5180 (2015)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  8. Liu, G., Wang, K., Gao, X., He, D., Li, J.: Fabrication of mesoporous NiFe2O4 nanorods as efficient oxygen evolution catalyst for water splitting. Electrochim. Act. 211, 871 (2016)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  9. Chang, H.-W., Fu, Y., Lee, W.-Y., Lu, Y.-R., Huang, Y.-C., Chen, J.-L., Chen, C.-L., Wu, C.C., Chen, J.-M., Lee, J.-F., Shen, S., Dong, C.-L.: Visible light-induced electronic structure modulation of Nb- and Ta-doped α-Fe2O3 nanorods for effective photoelectrochemical water splitting. Nanotechnology 29(6), 064002 (2018)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  10. Liu, W.-T., Wu, B.-H., Lai, Y.-T., Tai, N.-H., Perng, T.-P., Chen, L.-J.: Enhancement of water splitting by controlling the amount of vacancies with varying vacuum level in the synthesis system of SnO2−x/In2O3−y heterostructure as photocatalyst. Nano Energy 47, 18 (2018)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  11. Lim, C.-H., Choi, S.-M., Seo, W.-S., Lee, M.-H., Lee, K.H., Park, H.-H.: A study of electrodes for thermoelectric oxides. Electron. Mater. Lett. 9(4), 445 (2013)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  12. Peng, H., Song, J.-H., Hopper, E.M., Zhu, Q., Mason, T.O., Freeman, A.J.: Possible n-type carrier sources in In2O3(ZnO)k. Chem. Mater. 24(1), 106 (2015)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  13. Khan, M.A., Khan, M., Ahamed, M., Alsalhi, M.S., Ahmed, T.: Crystallite structural, electrical and luminescent characteristics of thin films of In2O3 nanocubes synthesized by spray pyrolysis. Electron. Mater. Lett. 9(1), 53 (2013)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  14. Krysa, J., Zlamal, M., Kment, S., Brunclikova, M., Hubicka, Z.: TiO2 and Fe2O3 films for photoelectrochemical water splitting. Molecules 20(1), 1046 (2015)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  15. Xu, R., Li, H., Zhang, W., Yang, Z., Liu, G., Xu, Z., Shao, H., Qiao, G.: The fabrication of In2O3/In2S3/Ag nanocubes for efficient photoelectrochemical water splitting. Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys. 18(4), 2710 (2016)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  16. Zhang, Y., Zhang, J., Nie, M., Sun, K., Li, C., Yu, J.: Photoelectrochemical water splitting under visible light over anti-photocorrosive In2O3-coupling ZnO nanorod arrays photoanode. J. Nanopart. Res. 17(7), 322 (2015)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  17. Rajamanickam, N., Mariammal, R.N., Rajashabala, S., Ramachandran, K.: Effect of (Li, Mn) co-doping on structural, optical and magnetic properties of chunk-shaped nano ZnO. J. Alloy. Compd. 614(2), 151 (2014)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  18. Wang, Y., Zhao, X., Duan, L., Wang, F., Niu, H., Guo, W., Ali, A.: Structure, luminescence and photocatalytic activity of Mg-doped ZnO nanoparticles prepared by auto combustion method. Mat. Sci. Semicon. Proc. 29, 372 (2015)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  19. Wang, C.T., Liang, X.F., Zhang, Y., Liang, X., Zhu, Y.P., Qin, J., Gao, Y., Peng, B., Sun, N.X., Bi, L.: Controlling the magnetic anisotropy in epitaxial Y3Fe5O12 films by manganese doping. Phys. Rev. B 96(22), 224403 (2017)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  20. Singh, N.K., Choudhuri, B., Mondal, A., Dhar, J.C., Goswami, T., Saha, S., Ngangbam, C.: 2D like photonic crystal using In2O3-SiOx heterostructure nanocolumn arrays and humidity sensing. Electron. Mater. Lett. 10(5), 975 (2014)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  21. Maestre, D., MartÍnez de Velasco, I., Cremades, A., Amati, M., Piqueras, J.: Micro- and nanopyramids of manganese-doped indium oxide. J. Phys. Chem. C 114, 11748 (2010)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  22. Farvid, S.S., Dave, N., Wang, T., Radovanovic, P.V.: Dopant-induced manipulation of the growth and structural metastability of colloidal indium oxide nanocrystals. J. Phys. Chem. C 113(36), 15928 (2009)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  23. Jin, Y., Ren, Y., Cao, M.T., Ye, Z.: Doped colloidal ZnO nanocrystals. J. Nanomater 2012, 985326 (2012)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  24. An, Y., Xing, Y., Pan, F., Wu, Z., Liu, J.: Investigation of local structural environments and room-temperature ferromagnetism in (Fe, Cu)-codoped In2O3 diluted magnetic oxide films. Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys. 18(19), 13701–13709 (2016)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  25. Sun, X., Jin, X., Li, M., Guo, R., An, Y., Liu, J.: Investigation of microstructure and photoluminescence of Mn and Co co-doped SiC films. Superlattice Microst. 65, 278 (2014)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  26. Okabayashi, J., Ono, K., Mizuguchi, M., Oshima, M.: X-ray absorption spectroscopy of transition-metal doped diluted magnetic semiconductors Zn1−xMxO. J. Appl. Phys. 95, 3573 (2004)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  27. Panigrahy, B., Aslam, M., Bahadur, D.: Aqueous synthesis of Mn- and Co-Doped ZnO nanorods. J. Phys. Chem. C 114(27), 11758 (2010)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  28. Ilton, E.S., Post, J.E., Heaney, P.J., Ling, F.T., Kerisit, S.N.: XPS determination of Mn oxidation states in Mn (hydr)oxides. Appl. Surf. Sci. 366, 475 (2016)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  29. Apostolov, A.T., Apostolova, I.N., Wesselinow, J.M.: Theoretical study of room temperature ferromagnetism and band gap energy of pure and ion doped In2O3 nanoparticles. J. Magn. Magn. Mater. 456, 263 (2018)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  30. Khatoon, S., Coolahan, K., Lofland, S.E., Ahmad, T.: Optical and magnetic properties of solid solutions of In2−xMnxO3 (0.05, 0.10 and 0.15) nanoparticles. J. Alloys Compd. 545, 162 (2012)

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (51702380), the Natural Science Foundation of Henan Province of China (182300410271), Program for Science & Research Innovation Foundation of Zhoukou Normal University (ZKNUA201803) and the Key Technologies R&D Program of Henan Province of China(182102210605).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Physics and Telecommunication Engineering, Zhoukou Normal University, Zhoukou, 466001, China

    Xianke Sun, Tingting You, Qiannan Zhang, Liuyang Xu, Xiaodong Zhou, Honglei Yuan & Kuili Liu

  2. Department of Railway Police, Railway Police College, Zhengzhou, 450053, China

    Xinhe Fu

Authors
  1. Xianke Sun
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Xinhe Fu
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Tingting You
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Qiannan Zhang
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Liuyang Xu
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. Xiaodong Zhou
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  7. Honglei Yuan
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  8. Kuili Liu
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Honglei Yuan or Kuili Liu.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Sun, X., Fu, X., You, T. et al. Investigation of Photoelectrochemical Water Splitting for Mn-Doped In2O3 Film. Electron. Mater. Lett. 14, 733–738 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13391-018-0080-8

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13391-018-0080-8

Keywords

Search

Navigation