LAUSR

Pure WO3 and Yb:WO3 thin films have been synthesized by spray pyrolysis technique. Effect of Yb doping concentration on photoelectrochemical, structural, morphological and optical properties of thin films are studied. X-ray diffraction analysis shows that all thin films are polycrystalline nature and exhibit monoclinic crystal structure. The 3 at% Yb:WO3 film shows superior photoelectrochemical (PEC) performance than that of pure WO3 film and it shows maximum photocurrent density (Iph = 1090 µA/cm2) having onset potentials around +0.3 V/SCE in 0.01 M HClO4. The photoelectrocatalytic process is more effective than that of the photocatalytic process for degradation of methyl orange (MO) dye. Yb doping in WO3 photocatalyst is greatly effective to degrade MO dye. The enhancement in photoelectrocatalytic activity is mainly due to the suppressing the recombination rate of photogenerated electron-hole pairs. The mineralization of MO dye in aqueous solution is studied by measuring chemical oxygen demand (COD) values.