ZnO Nanorod Arrays for Photoelectrochemical Cells
The splitting of water using photoelectrochemical (PEC) cells to produce hydrogen is one of the most sustainable forms of energy production and more and more 1-D nanostructrues semiconductors used as photoelectrodes have been studied extensively. However, it is not clear whether the
photoconversion efficiencies of such nanostructure devices are limited by the architectures of the 1-D electrodes. Here, we explore the effect of the architecture like the length and width of ZnO nanorods on the PEC cells performance for the first time. The as-prepared nanorods have diameters
of 40–50 nm and lengths of 400–800 nm. Preliminary measurements exhibit that the resulting electrodes have promising PEC properties. Mott–Schottky measurements give a flat-band potential of +0.10 V, a carrier density of 3.7 × 1017 cm−3, and
a space-charge layer of 26 nm. The photocurrent of 800 nm-long nanorods shows 10 times higher than that of 400 nm-long ones, and an encouraging maximum photoconversion efficiency of 0.25% is obtained under illumination of 100 mW/cm2 (AM 1.5), which is among the highest reported
for an undoped ZnO photoelectrode to date.
Document Type: Research Article
Publication date: 01 May 2012
- Journal for Nanoscience and Nanotechnology (JNN) is an international and multidisciplinary peer-reviewed journal with a wide-ranging coverage, consolidating research activities in all areas of nanoscience and nanotechnology into a single and unique reference source. JNN is the first cross-disciplinary journal to publish original full research articles, rapid communications of important new scientific and technological findings, timely state-of-the-art reviews with author's photo and short biography, and current research news encompassing the fundamental and applied research in all disciplines of science, engineering and medicine.
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