Silicon/hematite core/shell nanowire array decorated with gold nanoparticles for unbiased solar water oxidation.
basic_science · Level V
Where this comes from
- Record sourced from PubMed, PMID 24341833.
- Also identified by DOI 10.1021/nl402205f.
- No licence information is recorded for this record.
- Because redistribution is not established, this page shows the abstract only. Follow the links below for the full text.
Abstract
We report the facile fabrication of three-dimensional (3D) silicon/hematite core/shell nanowire arrays decorated with gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) and their potential application for sunlight-driven solar water splitting. The hematite and AuNPs respectively play crucial catalytic and plasmonic photosensitization roles, while silicon absorbs visible light and generates high photocurrent. Under simulated solar light illumination, solar water splitting with remarkable efficiency is achieved with no external bias applied. Such a nanocomposite photoanode design offers great promise for unassisted sunlight-driven water oxidation, and further stability and efficiency improvements to the device will lead to exciting prospects for practical solar water splitting and artificial photosynthesis.