Yttrium incorporation into the tungsten telluride (Y:WTe2) matrix achieved using three electrode systems.

Abstract

The three-electrode electrochemical deposition technique was used to synthesize Y:WTe2. With a molar concentration of 0.1 mol/g, tellurium dioxide acts as the precursor of zinc tungstate. The molar concentration of the dopant yttrium (III) nitrate hexahydrate ranges from 0.01 to 0.03 mol/g. The XRD patterns of WTe₂ and yttrium-doped tungsten telluride material both display a hexagonal crystal structure. The material exhibited a diffraction peak at (200) with a 2theta angle of 52.034^o. At a nanoscale, the material exhibits a specific surface morphology (200 nm scale bar).  The typical appearance of materials at this scale is a textured and granular structure on the surfaces. The undoped WTe₂ exhibits well-structured condensed nanoparticles on the FTO glass, along with a clouded white wood precipitate, indicating the formation of tungsten telluride on the FTO substrate. The absorbance of (WTe₂ and various Y-doped compositions) changes with different wavelengths. Stronger light absorption is indicated by higher absorbance, which is correlated with electronic transitions in the material. The energy bandgap of undoped WTe₂ is 1.25 eV, while yttrium-doped WTe₂ shows a range of 1.99 to 1.62 eV bandgap with increasing dopant concentration.