<p>A compound called rhodium-substituted hematite has been studied. Hematite is also called α-Fe₂O₃. A little over 3% of Fe cations were replaced by Rh. This has caused the bandgap to narrow from 2.14 to 2.09&#xa0;eV. Rhodium created new states near conduction band above the fermi level by the coupling of Rh-4s and Fe-3d states which causes the actual narrowness. Further, it has enhanced the photo response in the visible spectrum. The bandgap was intentionally manipulated in a material (Compound I) which was used to enhance harvesting and improving photoconductor absorption and charge carrier recombination which is important for photovoltaic devices. The increase in the real part of the dielectric function (ε1) means that electron polarizability is higher and the coupling with the electric field of the incident photon is also stronger. This means it has better optoelectronic properties and can also be used for energy storage applications. The enhanced photon-to-current efficiency (IPCE) assessments confirm the significantly improved photovoltaic response of Rh-doped hematite compared to its unadulterated version. In addition, the inclusion of rhodium altered the position of the energy bands on the NHE scale, which is important for efficient water-splitting processes. Overall, these results show Rh-doped hematite is a very good multifunctional candidate for next-generation solar energy conversion systems, both photoconversion and photocatalytic.</p>