Rectifying Behaviour and Photocatalytic Activity in ZnO Nanorods Array/Ag/CuSe Heterostructure

Dual functionality of surface plasmon resonance and barrier layer on the photosensing and optical nonlinearity of ZnO nanorod arrays

“…Zinc nitrate hexahydrate and hexamethylenetetramine (HMTA) were used to grow the ZnO NRsA, as described in earlier works. 7,10,11 The ZnO NRsA were then decorated with aluminium thin-films 25–75 nm in thickness deposited using RF magnetron sputtering (70 W), with control over the thickness achieved by in situ quartz balance monitoring and ex situ reflectance ellipsometry. To oxidize the Al thin-films, thermal treatment was performed at a temperature of 400 °C for 1 h in ambient air.…”

“…The synergetic architecture of noble metal-semiconductor heterostructures can promote high-output functionalities with improved optoelectronic properties for applications in energy harvesting, photocatalysis, photonic crystals, biological sensing, chemical and electrochemical sensing. [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17] The coupling of noble metal nanoparticles (NPs) with semiconductors can establish the exploitation of various photophysical processes. [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13] Strong light interaction with plasmonic NPs can cause several interesting phenomena such as electric field enhancement, selective light absorption, and the generation of hot electron-hole pairs through the decay of localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) in the noble metal NP/semiconductor junctions.…”

“…[1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17] The coupling of noble metal nanoparticles (NPs) with semiconductors can establish the exploitation of various photophysical processes. [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13] Strong light interaction with plasmonic NPs can cause several interesting phenomena such as electric field enhancement, selective light absorption, and the generation of hot electron-hole pairs through the decay of localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) in the noble metal NP/semiconductor junctions. 2,11,18 The LSPR-generated non-radiative hot electrons can overcome the Schottky barrier of the plasmonic NP-semiconductor junction and transfer into the conduction band (CB) of the adjacent semiconductor 2,4,19 via three different mechanisms:…”

“…Several studies have been devoted to elevating the photocatalytic performance of LSPR nanostructured systems to degrade standard dyes and pollutants under UV and visible light illumination. [5][6][7][8][9][10][11] Fauzia et al 6 investigated the photocatalytic performance of metalloid AuAg NP-decorated ZnO NRsA. The Au, Ag, and AuAg NPs act as electron sinks, preventing the recombination of electron-hole pairs; thus, more electrons and holes can contribute to the photodegradation activity.…”

Ag Incorporated ZnO Nanorods Array/ZnSe Heterostructure

“…In metal-semiconductor (M-S) hybrid heterostructure, the metal component could also facilitate light absorption through effective localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR), contributing to the enhanced absorption of visible light. 1,4,8,[16][17][18][19] Furthermore, the built-in Schottky potential in semiconductor-metal interfaces promotes the charge separation efficiency 20,21 and inhibits the carrier recombination. 4 The noble Ag and Au nanoparticles have the strongest LSPR effect that can be tuned to longer visible wavelength.…”