Preparation and Photoelectrochemical Characterization of GaN Thin Films for Hydrogen Production

There is an increasing interest in semiconductor/ electrolyte systems in connection with their application as phototelectrolytic energy conversion devices (e.g. hydrogen evolution). There are several requirements in order to produce hydrogen by photoelectrolysis using oxides metals and semiconductors. One of the most interesting semiconductor materials is the GaN which is a direct ban gap semiconductor. In this paper shows the formation of GaN prepared via electrodeposition, using ammonium nitrate at different concentration as type sources of nitrogen in order to growth a thin film. A standard three-electrode cell was used to prepare it using potenciostatic conditions. The average thickness of the samples was measured. The annealed films were characterized by electrochemical; photoelectrochemical, compositional, and morphologic methods in order to know its potential for water splitting.