Laser-driven growth of structurally defined transition metal oxide nanocrystals on carbon nitride photoelectrodes in milliseconds

Junfang Zhang, Yajun Zou, Stephan Eickelmann, Christian Njel, Tobias Heil, Sebastian Ronneberger, Volker Strauss, Peter H. Seeberger, Aleksandr Savateev and Felix F. Loeffler ()
Additional contact information
Junfang Zhang: Max Planck Institute of Colloids and Interfaces
Yajun Zou: Max Planck Institute of Colloids and Interfaces
Stephan Eickelmann: Max Planck Institute of Colloids and Interfaces
Christian Njel: Institute for Applied Materials (IAM) and Karlsruhe Nano Micro Facility (KNMF), Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT)
Tobias Heil: Max Planck Institute of Colloids and Interfaces
Sebastian Ronneberger: Max Planck Institute of Colloids and Interfaces
Volker Strauss: Max Planck Institute of Colloids and Interfaces
Peter H. Seeberger: Max Planck Institute of Colloids and Interfaces
Aleksandr Savateev: Max Planck Institute of Colloids and Interfaces
Felix F. Loeffler: Max Planck Institute of Colloids and Interfaces

Nature Communications, 2021, vol. 12, issue 1, 1-10

Abstract: Abstract Fabrication of hybrid photoelectrodes on a subsecond timescale with low energy consumption and possessing high photocurrent densities remains a centerpiece for successful implementation of photoelectrocatalytic synthesis of fuels and value-added chemicals. Here, we introduce a laser-driven technology to print sensitizers with desired morphologies and layer thickness onto different substrates, such as glass, carbon, or carbon nitride (CN). The specially designed process uses a thin polymer reactor impregnated with transition metal salts, confining the growth of transition metal oxide (TMO) nanostructures on the interface in milliseconds, while their morphology can be tuned by the laser. Multiple nano-p-n junctions at the interface increase the electron/hole lifetime by efficient charge trapping. A hybrid copper oxide/CN photoanode with optimal architecture reaches 10 times higher photocurrents than the pristine CN photoanode. This technology provides a modular approach to build a library of TMO-based composite films, enabling the creation of materials for diverse applications.

Date: 2021
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-021-23367-7 Abstract (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:nat:natcom:v:12:y:2021:i:1:d:10.1038_s41467-021-23367-7

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
https://www.nature.com/ncomms/

DOI: 10.1038/s41467-021-23367-7

Access Statistics for this article

Nature Communications is currently edited by Nathalie Le Bot, Enda Bergin and Fiona Gillespie

More articles in Nature Communications from Nature
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().