Layered WO3/TiO2 nanostructures with enhanced photocurrent densities

•Fabrication of highly porous photoactive layered WO3/TiO2 nanostructures.•High-throughput investigation of photoelectrochemical (PEC) properties.•PEC properties of individual TiO2 and WO3 layers display microstructure dependence.•Layered WO3/TiO2 films exhibit strikingly improved photocurrent densities.•Efficient charge-separation and carrier transfer processes within layered films.

Layered WO3/TiO2 nanostructures, fabricated by magnetron sputtering, demonstrate significantly enhanced photocurrent densities compared to individual TiO2 and WO3 layers. First, a large quantity of compositions having different microstructures and thicknesses were fabricated by a combinatorial approach: diverse WO3 microstructures were obtained by adjusting sputtering pressures and depositing the films in form of wedges; later layers of TiO2 nanocolumns were fabricated thereon by the oblique angle deposition. The obtained photocurrent densities of individual WO3 and TiO2 films show thickness and microstructure dependence. Among individual WO3 layers, porous films exhibit increased photocurrent densities as compared to the dense layer. TiO2 nanocolumns show length-dependent characteristics, where the photocurrent increases with increasing film thickness. However, by combining a WO3-wedge type layer with a layer of TiO2 nanocolumns, PEC properties strikingly improve, by about two orders of magnitude as compared to individual WO3 layers. The highest photocurrent that is measured in the combinatorial library of porous WO3/TiO2 films is as high as 0.11 mA/cm2. Efficient charge-separation and charge carrier transfer processes increase the photoconversion efficiency for such films.

Graphical abstractLayered WO3/TiO2 nanostructures, fabricated by magnetron sputtering, demonstrate significantly enhanced photocurrent densities compared to individual TiO2 and WO3 layers. Particularly, for porous WO3/TiO2 films, the photocurrent density increased by two orders of magnitude in comparison to wedge-type WO3 films and about twofold as compared with TiO2 nanocolumns.Figure optionsDownload full-size imageDownload as PowerPoint slide