Fabrication and enhancement in photoconductive response of α -Fe₂O₃/graphene nanocomposites as anode material

We report a facile fabrication for the synthesis of graphene based α-Fe₂O₃ nanocomposites as anode material for photoelectrochemical water splitting. The effect of introduction of graphene as a solid-state electron material has been investigated in detail by controlling the synthesis parameters. The XRD pattern of hematite α-Fe₂O₃ nanoparticles were indexed to rhombohedral structure of α-Fe₂O₃, while the TEM images illustrate the flaky structure of graphene supported by hematite nanoparticles. The rGO/α-Fe₂O₃ nanocomposites showed enhanced photocurrent of ~ 4 mA cm⁻² at (1.23 V vs. RHE) under standard illumination conditions (AM 1.5 G 100 mW cm⁻²). The enhanced photoelectrochemical performance may be attributed to synergistic effect of graphene and α-Fe₂O₃ by improving the charge transport properties. The optical properties were also observed to be influenced by the coupling of rGO and α-Fe₂O₃ composites as witnessed in the DRS spectra.