Effect of citric acid on photoelectrochemical properties of tungsten trioxide films prepared by the polymeric precursor method

Effect of citric acid (CA) on microstructure and photoelectrochemical properties of WO3 films prepared by the polymeric precursor method was investigated. The obtained materials were characterized by means of X-ray diffraction (XRD), field-emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), and high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM). The results showed that samples prepared with adding different amounts of citric acid had a pure phase of cubic. The addition of citric acid could significantly increase the particle size and change the surface of WO3 films. The photoelectrochemical measurements were performed using a standard three-electrode system cell. The films prepared from mass ratios of CA/PEG (R = 0, 0.2, 0.4, 0.6 and 1) showed 1.0, 1.4, 1.7, 2.1 and 0.9 mA cm−2 at 1.2 V under illumination with a 500 W xenon lamp (I0 = 100 mW/cm2), respectively.