New Material Design Boosts Solar Water-Splitting Efficiency by 71-Fold
Researchers have engineered a composite material that dramatically improves photoelectrochemical water splitting—a process that uses sunlight to generate hydrogen fuel. The breakthrough could accelerate commercialization of solar-powered hydrogen production, a key pathway for decarbonizing heavy industry and transportation.
Originaltitel: Growth of Ag2S-sensitizer on MoS2/ZnO nanocable arrays for improved solar driven photoelectrochemical water splitting
<p>The demonstration of an efficient nanostructure that provides acceptable photoelectrochemical water splitting properties using the sun visible radiation is an appealing issue. In this connection, a new ternary nanocomposite of Ag2S/MoS2/ZnO photoanode is subsequently fabricated via hydrothermal, solvothermal and SILAR methods. Different properties of the nanocomposite are characterized by XRD, SEM, EDX, XPS, UV-Vis-IR spectroscopy and electrochemical techniques. The post-grown annealed 8-Ag2S/MoS2/ZnO photoanode exhibits a good performance with a photocurrent density of 2 mA/cm2 at a bias potential 1.23 V vs. RHE. The photocurrent of the post-grown annealed 8-Ag2S/MoS2/ZnO photoanode is 71.42 times, 40 times and 2 times higher compares to the pure ZnO, post-grown annealed MoS2/ZnO, and post-grown annealed 8-Ag2S/ZnO photoanodes, respectively. The enhanced PEC performance may originate from the combination of different effects such as the expansion of light absorption and energy band alignment (type II heterostructures), [SO4] acted as a charge -transfer medium, and electrode-electrolyte interface kinetic reactions.</p>