Issue 7, 2019

A quadruple-band metal–nitride nanowire artificial photosynthesis system for high efficiency photocatalytic overall solar water splitting

Abstract

Photocatalytic water splitting is a wireless method for solar-to-hydrogen conversion. To date, however, the efficiency of photocatalytic water splitting is still very low. Here, we have investigated the design, synthesis, and characterization of quadruple-band InGaN nanowire arrays, which consist of In0.35Ga0.65N, In0.27Ga0.73N, In0.20Ga0.80N, and GaN segments, with energy bandgaps of ∼2.1 eV, 2.4 eV, 2.6 eV, and 3.4 eV, respectively. Such multi-band InGaN nanowire arrays are integrated directly on a nonplanar wafer for enhanced light absorption. Moreover, a doping gradient is introduced along the lateral dimension of the nanowires, which forms a built-in electric field and promotes efficient charge carrier separation and extraction for water redox reactions. We have demonstrated that the quadruple-band InGaN nanowire photocatalyst can exhibit a solar-to-hydrogen efficiency of ∼5.2% with relatively stable operation. This work demonstrates a novel strategy using multi-band semiconductor nanostructures for artificial photosynthesis and solar fuel conversion with significantly improved performance.

Graphical abstract: A quadruple-band metal–nitride nanowire artificial photosynthesis system for high efficiency photocatalytic overall solar water splitting

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Communication
Submitted
17 Feb 2019
Accepted
26 Mär 2019
First published
26 Mär 2019

Mater. Horiz., 2019,6, 1454-1462

Author version available

A quadruple-band metal–nitride nanowire artificial photosynthesis system for high efficiency photocatalytic overall solar water splitting

Y. Wang, Y. Wu, K. Sun and Z. Mi, Mater. Horiz., 2019, 6, 1454 DOI: 10.1039/C9MH00257J

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