文摘
Bilayered thin films of CuO/SrTiO3 with varying thickness of CuO were deposited by sol–gel spin-coating technique on indium tin oxide substrate and used as photoelectrode in the photoelectrochemical cell for water splitting reaction. Maximum photocurrent density of 1.85?mA/cm2 at ?.9?V/saturated calomel electrode was exhibited by 590-nm-thick CuO/SrTiO3 bilayered photoelectrode, which is approximately eight times higher than that for CuO and 30 times higher than that for SrTiO3. The bilayered system offered increased photocurrent density and enhanced photoconversion efficiency, attributed to improved conductivity, which ameliorate separation of the photo-generated carriers at the CuO/SrTiO3 interface and higher value of flatband potential. Details about synthesis and various characterisations involving X-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscopy have been discussed. An energy band diagram has been proposed to dwell upon the mechanism of charge carrier transfer across the interface.