A study on 170 MeV Au13+ irradiated nanostructured metal oxide (Fe2O3 and CuO) thin films for PEC applications

One hundred and seventy MeV Au13+ irradiation induced modification in photoelectrochemical (PEC) and structural properties of nanostructured 2%Cr–Fe2O3 and CuO thin films has been investigated. The X-ray diffractogram of both oxides indicated diffused nature of peaks with the appearance of crystalline peaks, indicative of partial amorphization taking place at higher fluence i.e. 1013 ions cm−2. Upon irradiation, the band gap energy was found to decrease marginally. The irradiated 2%Cr–Fe2O3 samples (fluence 1012 ions cm−2) used as working electrode in the PEC cell showed enhanced photocurrent generation. A decrease in photocurrent generation was recorded in case of irradiated 2%Cr–Fe2O3/CuO at higher fluence i.e. 1013 ions cm−2 and irradiated CuO sample at fluence 1012 ions cm−2, which may be attributed to the creation of greater number of kink sites/dislocations, that are probably acting as recombination centers for photogenerated electrons.