Construction of ZnO/CdS three-dimensional hierarchical photoelectrode for improved photoelectrochemical performance

Shenming Xu, Jiangang Jiang, Wenyi Ren, He Wang, Rui Zhang, Yingge Xie and Yubin Chen

Renewable Energy, 2020, vol. 153, issue C, 241-248

Abstract: Three-dimensional ZnO/CdS hierarchical films with uniform CdS deposition on the ZnO nanorods surface is prepared by a two-step hydrothermal method. The morphology of CdS nanostructure can be adjusted from particles to sheets and then blocks by changing amount of the surfactant in the precursor solution. The ZnO/CdS hierarchical film as photoelectrode with optimized morphology shows significant enhancement to the light harvesting and photoelectrochemical performance. Under light irradiation of 100 mW/cm2, the three-dimensional ZnO/CdS hierarchical film yields a photocurrent density of 4.5 mA/cm2, approximately two times higher than that of film without three-dimensional structure. The photoelectrochemical property improvement is attributed to the (1) enhanced light absorption due to the multi-scattering and multi-reflection of the unique three-dimensional hierarchical structure, (2) improved photogenerated carrier separation and transportation because of the hierarchical and heterojunction structure, and (3) facilitated hole transfer and reaction at the photoelectrode-electrolyte interface due to the large surface area.

Keywords: Three-dimensional structure; Heterojunction; Photoelectrochemical; Morphology tuning (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (4)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:renene:v:153:y:2020:i:c:p:241-248

DOI: 10.1016/j.renene.2020.02.001

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