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Wang Z, Zhu H, Tu W, Zhu X, Yao Y, Zhou Y, Zou Z. Host/Guest Nanostructured Photoanodes Integrated with Targeted Enhancement Strategies for Photoelectrochemical Water Splitting. ADVANCED SCIENCE (WEINHEIM, BADEN-WURTTEMBERG, GERMANY) 2022; 9:e2103744. [PMID: 34738739 PMCID: PMC8805576 DOI: 10.1002/advs.202103744] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/26/2021] [Revised: 10/05/2021] [Indexed: 06/13/2023]
Abstract
Photoelectrochemical (PEC) hydrogen production from water splitting is a green technology that can solve the environmental and energy problems through converting solar energy into renewable hydrogen fuel. The construction of host/guest architecture in semiconductor photoanodes has proven to be an effective strategy to improve solar-to-fuel conversion efficiency dramatically. In host/guest photoanodes, the absorber layer is deposited onto a high-surface-area electron collector, resulting in a significant enhancements in light-harvesting as well as charge collection and separation efficiency. The present review aims to summarize and highlight recent state-of-the-art progresses in the architecture designing of host/guest photoanodes with integrated enhancement strategies, including i) light trapping effect; ii) optimization of conductive host scaffolds; iii) hierarchical structure engineering. The challenges and prospects for the future development of host/guest nanostructured photoanodes are also presented.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zhiwei Wang
- School of Science and EngineeringThe Chinese University of Hong KongShenzhenGuangdong518172P. R. China
- Hefei National Laboratory for Physical Sciences at the MicroscaleSchool of Chemistry and Materials ScienceUniversity of Science and Technology of ChinaHefeiAnhui230026P. R. China
| | - Heng Zhu
- School of Science and EngineeringThe Chinese University of Hong KongShenzhenGuangdong518172P. R. China
| | - Wenguang Tu
- School of Science and EngineeringThe Chinese University of Hong KongShenzhenGuangdong518172P. R. China
| | - Xi Zhu
- School of Science and EngineeringThe Chinese University of Hong KongShenzhenGuangdong518172P. R. China
| | - Yingfang Yao
- School of Science and EngineeringThe Chinese University of Hong KongShenzhenGuangdong518172P. R. China
- College of Engineering and Applied SciencesNanjing UniversityNanjingJiangsu210093P. R. China
| | - Yong Zhou
- School of Science and EngineeringThe Chinese University of Hong KongShenzhenGuangdong518172P. R. China
- Jiangsu Key Laboratory for Nano TechnologyNational Laboratory of Solid State MicrostructuresCollaborative Innovation Center of Advanced MicrostructuresSchool of PhysicsNanjing UniversityNanjingJiangsu210093P. R. China
| | - Zhigang Zou
- School of Science and EngineeringThe Chinese University of Hong KongShenzhenGuangdong518172P. R. China
- Jiangsu Key Laboratory for Nano TechnologyNational Laboratory of Solid State MicrostructuresCollaborative Innovation Center of Advanced MicrostructuresSchool of PhysicsNanjing UniversityNanjingJiangsu210093P. R. China
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Purschke DN, Pielmeier MRP, Üzer E, Ott C, Jensen C, Degg A, Vogel A, Amer N, Nilges T, Hegmann FA. Ultrafast Photoconductivity and Terahertz Vibrational Dynamics in Double-Helix SnIP Nanowires. ADVANCED MATERIALS (DEERFIELD BEACH, FLA.) 2021; 33:e2100978. [PMID: 34278600 DOI: 10.1002/adma.202100978] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/04/2021] [Revised: 04/30/2021] [Indexed: 06/13/2023]
Abstract
Tin iodide phosphide (SnIP), an inorganic double-helix material, is a quasi-1D van der Waals semiconductor that shows promise in photocatalysis and flexible electronics. However, the understanding of the fundamental photophysics and charge transport dynamics of this new material is limited. Here, time-resolved terahertz (THz) spectroscopy is used to probe the transient photoconductivity of SnIP nanowire films and measure the carrier mobility. With insight into the highly anisotropic electronic structure from quantum chemical calculations, an electron mobility as high as 280 cm2 V-1 s-1 along the double-helix axis and a hole mobility of 238 cm2 V-1 s-1 perpendicular to the double-helix axis are detected. Additionally, infrared-active (IR-active) THz vibrational modes are measured, which shows excellent agreement with first-principles calculations, and an ultrafast photoexcitation-induced charge redistribution is observed that reduces the amplitude of a twisting mode of the outer SnI helix on picosecond timescales. Finally, it is shown that the carrier lifetime and mobility are limited by a trap density greater than 1018 cm-3 . The results provide insight into the optical excitation and relaxation pathways of SnIP and demonstrate a remarkably high carrier mobility for such a soft and flexible material, suggesting that it could be ideally suited for flexible electronics applications.
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Affiliation(s)
- David N Purschke
- Department of Physics, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, T6G 2E1, Canada
| | - Markus R P Pielmeier
- Department of Chemistry, Technical University of Munich, 85748, Garching bei München, Germany
| | - Ebru Üzer
- Department of Chemistry, Technical University of Munich, 85748, Garching bei München, Germany
| | - Claudia Ott
- Department of Chemistry, Technical University of Munich, 85748, Garching bei München, Germany
| | - Charles Jensen
- Department of Physics, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, T6G 2E1, Canada
| | - Annabelle Degg
- Department of Chemistry, Technical University of Munich, 85748, Garching bei München, Germany
| | - Anna Vogel
- Department of Chemistry, Technical University of Munich, 85748, Garching bei München, Germany
| | - Naaman Amer
- Department of Physics, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, T6G 2E1, Canada
| | - Tom Nilges
- Department of Chemistry, Technical University of Munich, 85748, Garching bei München, Germany
| | - Frank A Hegmann
- Department of Physics, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, T6G 2E1, Canada
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Li Q, Gong Z, Li Y, Liu H, Feng L, Liu S, Yun F. Electro-Optical Properties of Low-Temperature Growth Indium-tin-oxide Nanowires Using Polystyrene Spheres as Catalyst. NANOSCALE RESEARCH LETTERS 2016; 11:131. [PMID: 26956600 PMCID: PMC4783322 DOI: 10.1186/s11671-016-1342-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/21/2015] [Accepted: 02/27/2016] [Indexed: 06/05/2023]
Abstract
Polystyrene sphere was chosen as a catalyst to fabricate indium-tin-oxide (ITO) nanowires (NWs) with a low-temperature (280-300 °C) electron-beam deposition process, bearing high purity. The ITO NWs with diameter of 20-50 nm and length of ~2 um were obtained. X-ray diffraction and high-resolution transmission electron microscope show high crystal quality. The transmittance is above 90 % at a wavelength 400 nm or more, superior to the ITO bulk film. Owing to the unique morphology gradient of the ITO NWs, the effective refractive index of ITO NWs film is naturally graded from the bottom to the top. The ITO NWs have been used on LED devices (λ = 450 nm), which improved the light output power by 31 % at the current of 150 mA comparing to the one without NWs and did not deteriorate the electrical properties. Such ITO NWs open opportunity in LED devices to further improve light extraction efficiency.
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Affiliation(s)
- Qiang Li
- Key Laboratory of Physical Electronics and Devices of Ministry of Education and Shaanxi Provincial Key Laboratory of Photonics & Information Technology, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, Shaanxi, People's Republic of China.
- Solid-State Lighting Engineering Research Center, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, Shaanxi, People's Republic of China.
| | - Zhina Gong
- Solid-State Lighting Engineering Research Center, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, Shaanxi, People's Republic of China
| | - Yufeng Li
- Key Laboratory of Physical Electronics and Devices of Ministry of Education and Shaanxi Provincial Key Laboratory of Photonics & Information Technology, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, Shaanxi, People's Republic of China
- Solid-State Lighting Engineering Research Center, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, Shaanxi, People's Republic of China
| | - Hao Liu
- Solid-State Lighting Engineering Research Center, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, Shaanxi, People's Republic of China
| | - Lungang Feng
- Solid-State Lighting Engineering Research Center, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, Shaanxi, People's Republic of China
| | - Shuo Liu
- Shaanxi Supernova Lighting Technology Co., Ltd, Xi'an, Shaanxi, China
| | - Feng Yun
- Key Laboratory of Physical Electronics and Devices of Ministry of Education and Shaanxi Provincial Key Laboratory of Photonics & Information Technology, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, Shaanxi, People's Republic of China.
- Solid-State Lighting Engineering Research Center, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, Shaanxi, People's Republic of China.
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Zhou L, Zhao C, Giri B, Allen P, Xu X, Joshi H, Fan Y, Titova LV, Rao PM. High Light Absorption and Charge Separation Efficiency at Low Applied Voltage from Sb-Doped SnO2/BiVO4 Core/Shell Nanorod-Array Photoanodes. NANO LETTERS 2016; 16:3463-3474. [PMID: 27203779 DOI: 10.1021/acs.nanolett.5b05200] [Citation(s) in RCA: 73] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/05/2023]
Abstract
BiVO4 has become the top-performing semiconductor among photoanodes for photoelectrochemical water oxidation. However, BiVO4 photoanodes are still limited to a fraction of the theoretically possible photocurrent at low applied voltages because of modest charge transport properties and a trade-off between light absorption and charge separation efficiencies. Here, we investigate photoanodes composed of thin layers of BiVO4 coated onto Sb-doped SnO2 (Sb:SnO2) nanorod-arrays (Sb:SnO2/BiVO4 NRAs) and demonstrate a high value for the product of light absorption and charge separation efficiencies (ηabs × ηsep) of ∼51% at an applied voltage of 0.6 V versus the reversible hydrogen electrode, as determined by integration of the quantum efficiency over the standard AM 1.5G spectrum. To the best of our knowledge, this is one of the highest ηabs × ηsep efficiencies achieved to date at this voltage for nanowire-core/BiVO4-shell photoanodes. Moreover, although WO3 has recently been extensively studied as a core nanowire material for core/shell BiVO4 photoanodes, the Sb:SnO2/BiVO4 NRAs generate larger photocurrents, especially at low applied voltages. In addition, we present control experiments on planar Sb:SnO2/BiVO4 and WO3/BiVO4 heterojunctions, which indicate that Sb:SnO2 is more favorable as a core material. These results indicate that integration of Sb:SnO2 nanorod cores with other successful strategies such as doping and coating with oxygen evolution catalysts can move the performance of BiVO4 and related semiconductors closer to their theoretical potential.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lite Zhou
- Department of Mechanical Engineering, Worcester Polytechnic Institute , Worcester, Massachusetts 01609, United States
- Materials Science and Engineering Program, Worcester Polytechnic Institute , Worcester, Massachusetts 01609, United States
| | - Chenqi Zhao
- Department of Mechanical Engineering, Worcester Polytechnic Institute , Worcester, Massachusetts 01609, United States
- Materials Science and Engineering Program, Worcester Polytechnic Institute , Worcester, Massachusetts 01609, United States
| | - Binod Giri
- Department of Mechanical Engineering, Worcester Polytechnic Institute , Worcester, Massachusetts 01609, United States
| | - Patrick Allen
- Department of Mechanical Engineering, Worcester Polytechnic Institute , Worcester, Massachusetts 01609, United States
| | - Xiaowei Xu
- Department of Mechanical Engineering, Worcester Polytechnic Institute , Worcester, Massachusetts 01609, United States
- Materials Science and Engineering Program, Worcester Polytechnic Institute , Worcester, Massachusetts 01609, United States
| | - Hrushikesh Joshi
- Department of Mechanical Engineering, Worcester Polytechnic Institute , Worcester, Massachusetts 01609, United States
| | - Yangyang Fan
- Department of Mechanical Engineering, Worcester Polytechnic Institute , Worcester, Massachusetts 01609, United States
- Materials Science and Engineering Program, Worcester Polytechnic Institute , Worcester, Massachusetts 01609, United States
| | - Lyubov V Titova
- Department of Physics, Worcester Polytechnic Institute , Worcester, Massachusetts 01609, United States
| | - Pratap M Rao
- Department of Mechanical Engineering, Worcester Polytechnic Institute , Worcester, Massachusetts 01609, United States
- Materials Science and Engineering Program, Worcester Polytechnic Institute , Worcester, Massachusetts 01609, United States
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Nanoimprinted Hybrid Metal-Semiconductor Plasmonic Multilayers with Controlled Surface Nano Architecture for Applications in NIR Detectors. MATERIALS 2015; 8:5028-5047. [PMID: 28793489 PMCID: PMC5455507 DOI: 10.3390/ma8085028] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/23/2015] [Revised: 06/27/2015] [Accepted: 07/31/2015] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Abstract
We present a proof of concept for tunable plasmon resonance frequencies in a core shell nano-architectured hybrid metal-semiconductor multilayer structure, with Ag as the active shell and ITO as the dielectric modulation media. Our method relies on the collective change in the dielectric function within the metal semiconductor interface to control the surface. Here we report fabrication and optical spectroscopy studies of large-area, nanostructured, hybrid silver and indium tin oxide (ITO) structures, with feature sizes below 100 nm and a controlled surface architecture. The optical and electrical properties of these core shell electrodes, including the surface plasmon frequency, can be tuned by suitably changing the order and thickness of the dielectric layers. By varying the dimensions of the nanopillars, the surface plasmon wavelength of the nanopillar Ag can be tuned from 650 to 690 nm. Adding layers of ITO to the structure further shifts the resonance wavelength toward the IR region and, depending on the sequence and thickness of the layers within the structure, we show that such structures can be applied in sensing devices including enhancing silicon as a photodetection material.
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Huang Z, Bai F. Wafer-scale, three-dimensional helical porous thin films deposited at a glancing angle. NANOSCALE 2014; 6:9401-9409. [PMID: 24838479 DOI: 10.1039/c4nr00249k] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/03/2023]
Abstract
Minimization of helices opens a door to impose novel functions derived from the dimensional shrinkage of optical, mechanical and electronic devices. Glancing angle deposition (GLAD) enables one to deposit three-dimensional helical porous thin films (HPTFs) composed of separated spiral micro/nano-columns. GLAD integrates a series of advantageous features, including one-step deposition, wafer-scale production with mono-handedness of spirals, flexible engineering of spiral materials and dimensions, and the adaption to various kinds of substrates. Herein, we briefly review the fabrication of HPTFs by GLAD, specific growth mechanisms, physical properties in structures, mechanics and chiral optics, and the emerging applications in green energy. A prospective outlook is presented to illuminate some promising developments in enantioselection, bio-dynamic analyses, wirelessly-controlled drug delivery and mass production.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zhifeng Huang
- Department of Physics, Hong Kong Baptist University (HKBU), Kowloon Tong, Hong Kong SAR, P. R. China.
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