Monoclinic WO3 Nanomultilayers with Preferentially Exposed (002) Facets for Photoelectrochemical Water Splitting

The γ-monoclinic WO₃ nanomultilayers with highly reactive (002) facets exposed have been synthesized by a solvothermal method using ethylene glycol as the solvent. WO₃ nanomultilayers exhibit an excellent photocurrent of 1.62 mA cm^-2 at 1.25 V (vs. Ag/AgCl) under AM 1.5G irradiation, and an IPCE of 40% at 400 nm at a bias of 0.67 V (vs. Ag/AgCl) due to their unique multilayered nanostructure and the preferential exposure of highly reactive (002) facets. WO₃ with well controlled nanostructure and (002) facets preferentially exposed is confirmed to exhibit enhanced PEC performance, which will hopefully stimulate more extensive and insightful investigations of WO₃ nanostructures as PEC photoanodes.