Role of pH of electrolytic pH on the performance of nanostructured ZnO thin films in photoelectrochemical water splitting

World power consumption has reached 15 terawatts (TW) and it is all set to amplify in the future. To reduce the energy crisis renewable energy can play a significant role. Solar energy induced hydrogen production via photoelectrochemical path is the most encouraging pathway to find alternate source of energy [1-3]. The present study is focused on nanostructured thin films of zinc oxide (ZnO) deposited on ITO glass substrate using sol-gel spin coating method. Samples were characterized using X-ray diffractometry (XRD), Field Emission Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and UV-Vis spectrometry etc. The pH of aqueous solution of NaOH & KOH electrolyte was varied from 9-13 pH and its influence was studied on the performance of photoelectrochemical (PEC) water splitting for hydrogen production. The photocurrent-voltage (J-V) characteristic of ZnO electrodes were studied & analyzed for all variables. Maximum photocurrent of 13.8 mAcm-2 at 1.23V/RHE was obtained at pH 13 of NaOH electrolyte. Detailed results would be discussed