Semiconductor oxide nanostructures for converting and storing solar energy into chemical energy: A clean and sustainable way to produce hydrogen
One of the main aspects of today's society is the production and storage of energy in a clean and sustainable way. Much of the attention to research in the form of a search not made for the community of materials and mechanisms that allow the generation of electrical energy sources, and still minimize the impacts that can be generated to the planet and the environment, that is, energy sources of renewables and/or the base. In this sense, the great water resources from the principle of photoelectrochemical (PEC) became a form of clean and sustainable energy for clean and sustainable energy generation for sun-induced electrolysis. The focus of this study will be on being used in this type of application, and, more specifically, on one of the interfaces that this type of application allows. Commonly, materials classified as transparent conductive oxides (TCO) are used as substitutes for growth or photoelectrode, and fluorine-doped tin oxide (FTO) is considered the most promising for this type of application due to its several associated advantages. The study of the conductive surface is fundamental for this understanding of the PEC processes that occur in devices. One way to modify such electrode layers is to use heat treatments at high temperatures. Here, we investigate the commonly used FTO as heat treatments that are commonly used in some synthesis routes. The preliminary results obtained showed an interesting structural alteration on the surface of the conductive layer, and justify the interest in proceeding with the objectives proposed in this work.