Photoelectrochemical water splitting enhanced by self-assembled metal nanopillars embedded in an oxide semiconductor photoelectrode.
Photoelectrochemical water splitting enhanced by self-assembled metal nanopillars embedded in an oxide semiconductor photoelectrode.
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DOI：
10.1038/ncomms11818
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发表时间：
2016-06-03
影响因子：
16.6
通讯作者：
Lippmaa M
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Kawasaki S;Takahashi R;Yamamoto T;Kobayashi M;Kumigashira H;Yoshinobu J;Komori F;Kudo A;Lippmaa M
通过光电化学电池中的直接太阳能转换生产化学燃料对于开发可持续能源系统具有重大的实际意义。人们已经探索了各种纳米级设计，例如纳米线、纳米管、异质结构和纳米复合材料，以提高光电化学水分解的能量转换效率。在这里，我们展示了一种自组织纳米复合材料概念，用于提高光载流子分离和电化学能量转换的效率。机械坚固的光电极是通过将自组装金属纳米柱嵌入半导体薄膜中形成的，并在每个柱周围形成管状肖特基结。肖特基空间电荷区域中的光载流子传输效率大大提高，同时柱提供了有效的电荷提取路径。嵌入铱金属纳米柱的掺铱 SrTiO3 在水氧化反应中表现出良好的操作稳定性，并且在 400 至 600 nm 波长范围的可见光下实现了超过 80% 的光生载流子利用率。 众所周知，纳米级设计可以提高光电化学水分解的能量转换效率。在这里，作者报告了一种通过在半导体薄膜中嵌入自组装金属纳米柱形成的自组织纳米复合材料，以提高光载流子分离效率。
Production of chemical fuels by direct solar energy conversion in a photoelectrochemical cell is of great practical interest for developing a sustainable energy system. Various nanoscale designs such as nanowires, nanotubes, heterostructures and nanocomposites have been explored to increase the energy conversion efficiency of photoelectrochemical water splitting. Here we demonstrate a self-organized nanocomposite material concept for enhancing the efficiency of photocarrier separation and electrochemical energy conversion. Mechanically robust photoelectrodes are formed by embedding self-assembled metal nanopillars in a semiconductor thin film, forming tubular Schottky junctions around each pillar. The photocarrier transport efficiency is strongly enhanced in the Schottky space charge regions while the pillars provide an efficient charge extraction path. Ir-doped SrTiO3 with embedded iridium metal nanopillars shows good operational stability in a water oxidation reaction and achieves over 80% utilization of photogenerated carriers under visible light in the 400- to 600-nm wavelength range. Nanoscale designs are known to increase the energy conversion efficiency of photoelectrochemical water splitting. Here, the authors report a self-organized nanocomposite formed by embedding self-assembled metal nanopillars in a semiconductor thin film, for enhanced photocarrier separation efficiency.