In view of the worldwide energy challenge in the 21(st) century, the technology of semiconductor-based photoelectrochemical (PEC) water splitting has received considerable attention as an alternative approach for solar energy harvesting and storage. Two-dimensional (2D) structures such as nanosheets have the potential to tap the solar energy by unlocking the functional properties at the nanosca...

A three-layered photoanode has been synthesized by the introduction of an additional layer of mixed WO3 and Fe2O3. A total of nine differently-packaged films were prepared by sol-gel method. The fabricated photoanodes were then successfully characterized by X-ray diffractometry (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX). A comparative study was also...

Reaction kinetics and surface coverage of water oxidation intermediates at a W/Mo-BiVO4 photoanode were studied using surface interrogation scanning electrochemical microscopy (SI-SECM). Adsorbed hydroxyl radicals (OH•) were produced during water oxidation at the semiconductor surface under UV−visible irradiation and were subsequently electrochemically titrated by tip-generated reductant withou...

We have designed a novel semiconductor core/layer nanostructure of a uniform ZnO@TiO2 nanorod array modified with a ZnIn0.25Cu0.02S1.395 solid-solution on the surface via a facile hydrothermal synthesis. This novel nanostructure combines the merits of all components and meets the requirements of photovoltaic system application. An intimate PN heterojunction is formed from the ZnO@TiO2 nanorod a...

A fundamental issue that limits the efficiency of many photoelectrochemical systems is that the photon absorption length is typically much longer than the electron diffusion length. Various photon management schemes have been developed to enhance light absorption; one simple approach is to use randomly scattering media to enable broadband and wide-angle enhancement. However, such systems are of...

Photoelectrochemical (PEC) water splitting using solar energy has attracted great attention for generation of renewable hydrogen with less carbon footprint, while there are enormous challenges that still remain for improving solar energy water splitting efficiency, due to limited light harvesting, energy loss associated to fast recombination of photogenerated charge carriers, as well as electro...

We report the synthesis and characterization of new metal-free organic dyes (namely B18, BTD-R, and CPTD-R) which designed with D-π-A concept to extending the light absorption region by strong conjugation group of π-linker part and applied as light harvester in dye sensitized solar cells (DSSCs). We compared the photovoltaic performance of these dyes in two different photoanodes: a standard TiO...

Many narrow band-gap semiconductors cannot fulfil the energetic requirements for water splitting, thus the assistance of large external voltages to complete the water decomposition reaction is required. Through thermal decomposition of Fe(NO3)3 on n-Si nanowires prepared by the chemical etching method, we fabricated a high-performance n-Si/α-Fe2O3 core/shell nanowire array photoanode that exhib...

In this paper, the inexpensive 4,4-diaminostilbene-2,2-disulfonate (DAS) and 4,4-dinitro-stilbene-2,2- disulfonate (DNS) anions with arbitrary molar ratios were successfully co-intercalated into Zn2Al-layered double hydroxides (LDHs). The DAS(50%)-DNS/LDHs composite exhibited the broad UV-visible light absorption and fluorescence quenching, which was a direct indication of photo-induced electro...