Investigation of radiation effects on structural, morphological, and compositional properties of WO3 nanostructures for water splitting applications.

Gamma radiation can cause structural defects in metal oxide thin films, affecting their conversion efficiency. This study focuses on synthesizing and characterizing Tungsten oxide (WO₃) films for photo-electrochemical (PEC) water-splitting applications. The pristine WO₃ film was irradiated with a Co-60 gamma source to improve its photocatalytic activity and was named G-WO₃. The resulting G-WO₃ thin films showed a decrease in the optical direct band gap and showed higher photocurrent density and lower charge transfer resistance for PEC applications. The carrier charge density (N_d) values were found to be increased after γ-radiation. The synthesized G-WO₃ thin films possess good stability and reusability for photo-electrochemical water-splitting applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]