ZnO@S-doped ZnO core/shell nanocomposites for highly efficient solar water splitting

Chao Wang; Yajuan Feng; Liang Cai; Xiaoyu Yang; Jingfu He; Wensheng Yan; Qinghua Liu; Zhihu Sun; Fengchun Hu; Zhi Xie; Tao Yao; Shiqiang Wei

doi:10.1016/j.jpowsour.2014.06.066

ZnO@S-doped ZnO core/shell nanocomposites for highly efficient solar water splitting

Chao Wang, Yajuan Feng, Liang Cai, Xiaoyu Yang, Jingfu He, Wensheng Yan^*, Qinghua Liu, Zhihu Sun, Fengchun Hu, Zhi Xie, Tao Yao, Shiqiang Wei

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

21 Scopus citations

Abstract

Prohibiting the rapid holes recombination is a key issue for designing highly efficient photoelectrodes for solar water splitting. Here, we propose a strategy incorporating S atoms in the surface shell of ZnO nanoparticles to generate holes trapper for restraining the electron-hole recombination. The obtained ZnO@S-doped ZnO core/shell-like nanocomposite exhibits a high photocurrent density of 1.08 mA cm^-2 with conversion efficiency up to 0.74%, 8 times larger than that of pristine ZnO nanoparticles. Comprehensively, the results from experimental and computational aspects reveal that the S dopants substituting the surface O sites narrow the band gap and introduce a mid-gap impurity band, contributing to the enhanced water splitting activity. This design provides some guides for future optimization of ZnO-based photoelectrodes.

Original language	English (US)
Pages (from-to)	24-30
Number of pages	7
Journal	Journal of Power Sources
Volume	269
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpowsour.2014.06.066
State	Published - Dec 10 2014

Keywords

Core/shell-like nanocomposite
Impurity mid-gap band
Photoelectrochemical
Sulfur doping
Water splitting
Zinc oxide

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Renewable Energy, Sustainability and the Environment
Energy Engineering and Power Technology
Physical and Theoretical Chemistry
Electrical and Electronic Engineering

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

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10.1016/j.jpowsour.2014.06.066

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title = "ZnO@S-doped ZnO core/shell nanocomposites for highly efficient solar water splitting",

abstract = "Prohibiting the rapid holes recombination is a key issue for designing highly efficient photoelectrodes for solar water splitting. Here, we propose a strategy incorporating S atoms in the surface shell of ZnO nanoparticles to generate holes trapper for restraining the electron-hole recombination. The obtained ZnO@S-doped ZnO core/shell-like nanocomposite exhibits a high photocurrent density of 1.08 mA cm-2 with conversion efficiency up to 0.74%, 8 times larger than that of pristine ZnO nanoparticles. Comprehensively, the results from experimental and computational aspects reveal that the S dopants substituting the surface O sites narrow the band gap and introduce a mid-gap impurity band, contributing to the enhanced water splitting activity. This design provides some guides for future optimization of ZnO-based photoelectrodes.",

keywords = "Core/shell-like nanocomposite, Impurity mid-gap band, Photoelectrochemical, Sulfur doping, Water splitting, Zinc oxide",

author = "Chao Wang and Yajuan Feng and Liang Cai and Xiaoyu Yang and Jingfu He and Wensheng Yan and Qinghua Liu and Zhihu Sun and Fengchun Hu and Zhi Xie and Tao Yao and Shiqiang Wei",

note = "Funding Information: This work was supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grants 11135008 , 11079004 , U1332131 , 11175184 , U1232132 and 11305172 ), the Foundation for Innovative Research Groups of the National Natural Science Foundation of China ( 11321503 ), National Basic Research Program of China ( 2012CB825800 ), and New Century Excellent Talents in Chinese University ( NCET-10-0992 ). We are grateful to NSRL, BSRF and SSRF for the valuable beamtimes. ",

year = "2014",

month = dec,

day = "10",

doi = "10.1016/j.jpowsour.2014.06.066",

language = "English (US)",

volume = "269",

pages = "24--30",

journal = "Journal of Power Sources",

issn = "0378-7753",

publisher = "Elsevier B.V.",

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T1 - ZnO@S-doped ZnO core/shell nanocomposites for highly efficient solar water splitting

AU - Wang, Chao

AU - Feng, Yajuan

AU - Cai, Liang

AU - Yang, Xiaoyu

AU - He, Jingfu

AU - Yan, Wensheng

AU - Liu, Qinghua

AU - Sun, Zhihu

AU - Hu, Fengchun

AU - Xie, Zhi

AU - Yao, Tao

AU - Wei, Shiqiang

N1 - Funding Information: This work was supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grants 11135008 , 11079004 , U1332131 , 11175184 , U1232132 and 11305172 ), the Foundation for Innovative Research Groups of the National Natural Science Foundation of China ( 11321503 ), National Basic Research Program of China ( 2012CB825800 ), and New Century Excellent Talents in Chinese University ( NCET-10-0992 ). We are grateful to NSRL, BSRF and SSRF for the valuable beamtimes.

PY - 2014/12/10

Y1 - 2014/12/10

N2 - Prohibiting the rapid holes recombination is a key issue for designing highly efficient photoelectrodes for solar water splitting. Here, we propose a strategy incorporating S atoms in the surface shell of ZnO nanoparticles to generate holes trapper for restraining the electron-hole recombination. The obtained ZnO@S-doped ZnO core/shell-like nanocomposite exhibits a high photocurrent density of 1.08 mA cm-2 with conversion efficiency up to 0.74%, 8 times larger than that of pristine ZnO nanoparticles. Comprehensively, the results from experimental and computational aspects reveal that the S dopants substituting the surface O sites narrow the band gap and introduce a mid-gap impurity band, contributing to the enhanced water splitting activity. This design provides some guides for future optimization of ZnO-based photoelectrodes.

AB - Prohibiting the rapid holes recombination is a key issue for designing highly efficient photoelectrodes for solar water splitting. Here, we propose a strategy incorporating S atoms in the surface shell of ZnO nanoparticles to generate holes trapper for restraining the electron-hole recombination. The obtained ZnO@S-doped ZnO core/shell-like nanocomposite exhibits a high photocurrent density of 1.08 mA cm-2 with conversion efficiency up to 0.74%, 8 times larger than that of pristine ZnO nanoparticles. Comprehensively, the results from experimental and computational aspects reveal that the S dopants substituting the surface O sites narrow the band gap and introduce a mid-gap impurity band, contributing to the enhanced water splitting activity. This design provides some guides for future optimization of ZnO-based photoelectrodes.

KW - Core/shell-like nanocomposite

KW - Impurity mid-gap band

KW - Photoelectrochemical

KW - Sulfur doping

KW - Water splitting

KW - Zinc oxide

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JO - Journal of Power Sources

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ER -

ZnO@S-doped ZnO core/shell nanocomposites for highly efficient solar water splitting

Abstract

Keywords

ASJC Scopus subject areas

UN SDGs

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