Indium-Tin-Oxide Nanowire Array Based CdSe/CdS/TiO2 One-Dimensional Heterojunction Photoelectrode for Enhanced Solar Hydrogen Production

Hyun Soo Han, Gill Sang Han, Ju Seong Kim, Dong Hoe Kim, Jung Sug Hong, Salim Caliskan, Hyun Suk Jung, In Sun Cho, Jung Kun Lee

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

31 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

For photoelectrochemical (PEC) hydrogen production, low charge transport efficiency of a photoelectrode is one of the key factors that largely limit PEC performance enhancement. Here, we report a tin-doped indium oxide (In2O3:Sn, ITO) nanowire array (NWs) based CdSe/CdS/TiO2 multishelled heterojunction photoelectrode. This multishelled one-dimensional (1D) heterojunction photoelectrode shows superior charge transport efficiency due to the negligible carrier recombination in ITO NWs, leading to a greatly improved photocurrent density (∼16.2 mA/cm2 at 1.0 V vs RHE). The ITO NWs with an average thickness of ∼12 μm are first grown on commercial ITO/glass substrate by a vapor-liquid-solid method. Subsequently, the TiO2 and CdSe/CdS shell layers are deposited by an atomic layer deposition (ALD) and a chemical bath deposition method, respectively. The resultant CdSe/CdS/TiO2/ITO NWs photoelectrode, compared to a planar structure with the same configuration, shows improved light absorption and much faster charge transport properties. More importantly, even though the CdSe/CdS/TiO2/ITO NWs photoelectrode has lower CdSe/CdS loading (i.e., due to its lower surface area) than the mesoporous TiO2 nanoparticle based photoelectrode, it shows 2.4 times higher saturation photocurrent density, which is attributed to the superior charge transport and better light absorption by the 1D ITO NWs.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)1161-1168
Number of pages8
JournalACS Sustainable Chemistry and Engineering
Volume4
Issue number3
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2016 Mar 7
Externally publishedYes

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
J.-K.L. acknowledges the support from National Science Foundation (Grant No. CMMI-1333182, EPMD-1408025) and the Global Frontier R&D Program on Center for Multiscale Energy System, Korea (2012M3A6A7054855). I.S.C. also acknowledges the support from Basic Science Research Program through the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) funded by the Ministry of Science, ICT & Future Planning (2015R1C1A1A01053785).

Publisher Copyright:
© 2016 American Chemical Society.

Keywords

  • 1D transparent conducting oxides
  • CdSe/CdS/TiO heterojunction
  • Charge transport
  • InO:Sn nanowire array
  • Photoelectrochemical hydrogen production

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Chemistry(all)
  • Environmental Chemistry
  • Chemical Engineering(all)
  • Renewable Energy, Sustainability and the Environment

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Indium-Tin-Oxide Nanowire Array Based CdSe/CdS/TiO2 One-Dimensional Heterojunction Photoelectrode for Enhanced Solar Hydrogen Production'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this