Boosting photoelectrochemical efficiency by near-infrared-active lattice-matched morphological heterojunctions

Guo-Qiang Liu, Yuan Yang, Yi Li, Taotao Zhuang, Xu-Feng Li, Joshua Wicks, Jie Tian, Min-Rui Gao (), Jin-Lan Peng, Huan-Xin Ju, Liang Wu, Yun-Xiang Pan, Lu-An Shi, Haiming Zhu, Junfa Zhu, Shu-Hong Yu () and Edward H. Sargent ()
Additional contact information
Guo-Qiang Liu: University of Science and Technology of China
Yuan Yang: University of Science and Technology of China
Yi Li: University of Science and Technology of China
Taotao Zhuang: University of Science and Technology of China
Xu-Feng Li: Zhejiang University
Joshua Wicks: University of Toronto
Jie Tian: University of Science and Technology of China
Min-Rui Gao: University of Science and Technology of China
Jin-Lan Peng: University of Science and Technology of China
Huan-Xin Ju: University of Science and Technology of China
Liang Wu: University of Science and Technology of China
Yun-Xiang Pan: Hefei University of Technology
Lu-An Shi: University of Science and Technology of China
Haiming Zhu: Zhejiang University
Junfa Zhu: University of Science and Technology of China
Shu-Hong Yu: University of Science and Technology of China
Edward H. Sargent: University of Toronto

Nature Communications, 2021, vol. 12, issue 1, 1-9

Abstract: Abstract Photoelectrochemical catalysis is an attractive way to provide direct hydrogen production from solar energy. However, solar conversion efficiencies are hindered by the fact that light harvesting has so far been of limited efficiency in the near-infrared region as compared to that in the visible and ultraviolet regions. Here we introduce near-infrared-active photoanodes that feature lattice-matched morphological hetero-nanostructures, a strategy that improves energy conversion efficiency by increasing light-harvesting spectral range and charge separation efficiency simultaneously. Specifically, we demonstrate a near-infrared-active morphological heterojunction comprised of BiSeTe ternary alloy nanotubes and ultrathin nanosheets. The heterojunction’s hierarchical nanostructure separates charges at the lattice-matched interface of the two morphological components, preventing further carrier recombination. As a result, the photoanodes achieve an incident photon-to-current conversion efficiency of 36% at 800 nm in an electrolyte solution containing hole scavengers without a co-catalyst.

Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-021-24569-9 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_s41467-021-24569-9

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

DOI: 10.1038/s41467-021-24569-9

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 ().