Highly Efficient InGaN Nanorods Photoelectrode by Constructing Z‐scheme Charge Transfer System for Unbiased Water Splitting

Abstract

Unbiased photoelectrochemical water splitting for the promising InGaN nanorods photoelectrode is highly desirable, but it is practically hindered by the serious recombination of charge carrier in bulk and surface of InGaN nanorods. Herein, an unbiased Z‐scheme InGaN nanorods/Cu2O nanoparticles heterostructured system with boosted interfacial charge transfer is constructed for the first time. The introduced Cu2O nanoparticles pose double‐sided effect on photoelectrochemical (PEC) performance of InGaN nanorods, which enables a robust hybrid structure and induces weakened light absorption capability simultaneously. As a result, the optimized InGaN/Cu2O‐1.5C photoelectrode with the uniform morphology exhibits an enhanced photocurrent density of ≈170 µA cm−2 at 0 V versus Pt, with 8.5‐fold enhancement compared with pure InGaN nanorods. Comprehensive investigations into experimental results and theoretical calculations reveal that the electrons accumulation and holes depletion of Cu2O facilitate to form a typical Z‐scheme band alignment, thus providing a large photovoltage to drive unbiased water splitting and enhancing the stability of Cu2O. This work provides a novel and facile strategy to achieve InGaN nanorods and other catalyst‐based PEC water splitting without external bias, and to relieve the bottlenecks of charge transfer dynamics at the electrode bulk and electrode/electrolyte interface by constructing Z‐scheme heterostructure.

Two‐Dimensional Tellurene Transistors with Low Contact Resistance and Self‐Aligned Catalytic Thinning Process

“…Two‐dimensional (2D) semiconductors show great potential for nanoscale devices due to their unique electronic properties, ultrathin thickness, and dangling‐bond‐free surface. [ 1–11 ] Recently, group‐VI elemental 2D semiconductors, e.g., tellurene (Te), selenene (Se), are rediscovered since it possesses outstanding physical properties, including higher carrier mobility than transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) and much better air stability than black phosphorus (BP), which shows the great potential of 2D Te for future electronics. [ 12–17 ] The few‐layer Te is predicted to have a thickness‐dependent bandgap, varying from nearly 0.31 eV for bulk to 1.17 eV for bilayer.…”

“…Because the intrinsic chain structure of Te prefers one‐dimensional (1D) growth behavior, it is still very difficult to grow ultrathin 2D Te samples. [ 7,16,17,22 ] It is quite necessary to develop a method to reduce the thickness of the Te channel for better electrostatic control. The reported dry‐etching methods, including plasma treatment, [ 23 ] thermal annealing, [ 24 ] UV/ozone treatment, [ 25 ] and local laser thinning, [ 26,27 ] can achieve selective patterning and layer‐by‐layer thinning of typical 2D materials (e.g., TMDs and BP), but the high energy applied to the samples can easily damage the bottom layers, which results in defects or disorders in the 2D materials.…”

2D Bismuthene Metal Electron Mediator Engineering Super Interfacial Charge Transfer for Efficient Photocatalytic Reduction of Carbon Dioxide

“…This heterostructure of C 3 N 4 /bismuthene/BiOCl (CNBB) is successfully implemented by a facile solvothermal method. 2D bismuthene was innovatively applied in a Z-scheme system, shortening the charge transfer distance as an electron mediator, as well as enlarging the interface contact area and balancing the accumulated surplus charge. − As-prepared CNBB performs with a high photocatalytic stability and high product yields of CO 2 conversion to CO and CH 4 . − The photocorrosion of the BiOCl/C 3 N 4 system is surmounted by 2D bismuthene serving as a charge transfer and recombination center. This mechanism is confirmed by the charge density differences from the DFT calculation and the ultrafast spectrum experiments.…”

A new strategy: fermi level control to realize 3D pyramidal NiCo-LDH/ReS2/n-PSi as a high-performance photoanode for the oxygen evolution reaction

“…As for the efficiency of PEC water splitting, we have calculated the applied biased photo-to-current efficiency (ABPE) according to the following equation: 54…”