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Trilaminar graphene/tremella-like CuInS2/graphene oxide nanofilms and the enhanced activity for photoelectrochemical water splitting

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Abstract

In this work, an efficient photocatalytic material was prepared directly on indium tin oxide glass substrates by fabricating tremella-like CuInS2 and graphene oxide onto graphene via a facile, inexpensive, and environmental-friendly method for photoelectrochemical (PEC) water splitting. Curved three-dimensional (3D) CuInS2 consisted of primary nanoscale building units exhibits promising applications. The trilaminar graphene/tremella-like CuInS2/graphene oxide semiconducting materials were characterized, and found to have an enhanced PEC response in the visible region. The photocurrent density of the nanofilms for PEC water splitting was measured to be up to 2.47 mA/cm2, which can be ascribed to a higher efficiency of light harvesting, a stepwise structure of band-edge levels and an electron accelerator (graphene) was used in the materials to get better electron-injecting efficiency.

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Acknowledgments

The authors gratefully acknowledge financial support from the National Nature Science Foundation of China (51102174), State Key Laboratory of Heavy Oil Processing (No. SKLHOP201505), and Technology Development Foundation Plan Project of Tianjin Colleges (20140309).

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Correspondence to Zhifeng Liu.

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Bo, W., Liu, Z., Hong, T. et al. Trilaminar graphene/tremella-like CuInS2/graphene oxide nanofilms and the enhanced activity for photoelectrochemical water splitting. J Nanopart Res 17, 295 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11051-015-3098-y

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11051-015-3098-y

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