Generally, a high-temperature postannealing process is required to enhance the photoelectrochemical (PEC) performance of hematite nanorod (NR) photoanodes. However, the thermal annealing time is limited to a short duration as thermal annealing at high temperatures can result in some critical problems, such as conductivity degradation of the fluorine-doped tin oxide film and deformation of the glass substrate. In this study, selective laser processing is introduced for hematite-based PEC cells as an alternative annealing process. The developed laser-induced phase transformation (LIPT) process yields hematite NRs with enhanced optical, chemical, and electrical properties for application in hematite NR-based PEC cells. Owing to its improved properties, the LIPT-processed hematite NR PEC cell exhibits an enhanced water oxidation performance compared to that processed by the conventional annealing process. As the LIPT process is conducted under ambient conditions, it would be an excellent alternative annealing technique for heat-sensitive flexible substrates in the future.
Keywords: hematite nanorod; laser; laser-induced phase transformation; photoelectrochemical cell; water splitting.