Optimizations of Liquid Phase Deposition Processes for Enhanced Photoelectrocatalytic Activities of Tungsten Oxide Thin Films

This study focuses on the preparation of tungsten oxide (WO3) as the photoanode for water oxidations by the liquid phase deposition (LPD) technique and its optimizations to improve the photoelectrochemical performance. The alternative precursor large stock solution process was achieved to simplify the LPD process for WO3 thin film preparation. The effect of boric acid in the precursor solutions on the physicochemical properties of the deposited WO3 thin films was investigated. As a result, we found that the optimized concentration of boric acid realized the highest photoelectrochemical performance. Through the optimizations of reaction conditions and surface analyses, we concluded that the preparations of a semiconductor film via the LPD technique had the potential to obtain high-performance photoelectrocatalytic applications.