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Enhancing photoelectrochemical activity with three-dimensional p-CuO/n-ZnO junction photocathodes

具有优异光电化学性能的三维p-CuO/n-ZnO异质结光阴极材料

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Abstract

Designing photoelectrodes with particular nanostructure and composition has been regarded as a promising approach to improve the photoelectrochemical (PEC) water splitting efficiency. We report the design and synthesis of a three-dimensional (3D) nanostructure with CuO nanocones as backbones and ZnO nanorods as branches, using a facile water bath reaction process together with the atomic layer deposition (ALD) technology. As utilized in photocathodes, the optimized CuO/ZnO nanostructure, 37 cycles of ALD ZnO seedlayer and 55 min of water bath reaction of ZnO nanorods, demonstrate highly improved PEC performance. The ratio of photo to dark current density for the 3D CuO/ZnO is 6.4, much higher than the value of 2.7 for the CuO electrode. The enhanced activity is attributed to the synergistic effects of effective carrier separation and collection, reduced charge recombination, and increased carrier lifetime in the CuO/ZnO heterojunction. This work demonstrates the feasibility of designing novel 3D nanostructures by ALD technology as efficient photoelectrodes.

摘要

为提高光电化学分解水的效率, 本文设计并制作了一种具有独特纳米结构与组分的光电极材料. 首先利用水浴和原子层沉积(ALD) 相结合的方法合成出以氧化铜纳米圆锥结构作为支架, 氧化锌纳米棒作为树枝状的三维纳米结构, 并进一步用这种结构作为光电极进行 光解水. 通过实验测试, 在所有三维纳米结构中, 生长参数为37个循环的原子层沉积氧化锌种子层、水浴反应时间为55分钟的三维p型氧 化铜/n型氧化锌(p-CuO/n-ZnO)异质结光阴极材料具有最好的光解水性能. 其光暗电流密度之比达到了6.4, 远远高于比值为2.7的纯氧化铜 电极. 三维p-CuO/n-ZnO异质结材料所表现出的优异光解水性能归功于氧化铜和氧化锌形成的异质结, 该异质结有效地促进了载流子的 收集和分离、降低了载流子的复合几率、延长了载流子的寿命. 本文也同时证明了利用原子层沉积技术设计并制作新型三维纳米结构 光电极材料的可行性.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Physics, Optoelectronics and Energy, Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Thin Films, Center for Energy Conversion Materials & Physics (CECMP), Soochow University, Suzhou, 215006, China

    Fangli Wu  (武芳丽), Fengren Cao  (曹风人), Qiong Liu  (刘琼), Hao Lu  (卢豪) & Liang Li  (李亮)

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  1. Fangli Wu  (武芳丽)
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  2. Fengren Cao  (曹风人)
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  3. Qiong Liu  (刘琼)
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  4. Hao Lu  (卢豪)
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  5. Liang Li  (李亮)
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Correspondence to Liang Li  (李亮).

Additional information

Fangli Wu received her BSc degree fromthe College of Physics, Optoelectronics and Energy at Soochow University in 2014. She is currently a PhD student in Prof. Liang Li’s research group. Her research focuses on the study of nanostructured photoelectrodes for photoelectrochemical (PEC) water splitting.

Liang Li received his PhD degree from the Institute of Solid State Physics (ISSP), Chinese Academy of Sciences and won the Excellent President Scholarship in 2006. From 2007 to 2012, he worked at the National University of Singapore (NUS), Singapore, National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST), Japan, National Institute for Materials Sciences (NIMS), Japan, and the University of Western Ontario (UWO), Canada. Since August 2012, he has been full professor of Soochow University in China. His research group focuses mainly on the controlled synthesis, novel physical properties and energy conversion and storage devices of low-dimensional nanomaterials. He was awarded by China government as 1000 Youth Talents Plan and Excellent Youth Foundation in 2013 and 2014, respectively. For detail please see his group website: http://ecs.suda.edu.cn, and Research ID: http://www.researcherid.com/rid/D-2920-2009.

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Wu, F., Cao, F., Liu, Q. et al. Enhancing photoelectrochemical activity with three-dimensional p-CuO/n-ZnO junction photocathodes. Sci. China Mater. 59, 825–832 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40843-016-5054-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40843-016-5054-6

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