화학공학소재연구정보센터
홈 로그인 로그아웃 연락처 사이트맵
Korean Journal of Materials Research, Vol.29, No.3, 196-203, March, 2019
DOI10.3740/MRSK.2019.29.3.196  Export Citation
산화아연 나노막대가 내장된 아산화구리 박막 구조를 이용한 산화물 광양극 제작 및 광전기화학적 특성
Fabrication and Photoelectrochemical Properties of an Oxide Photoanode with Zinc Oxide Nanorod Array Embedded in Cuprous Oxide Thin Film
민병국, 김효진1, †
  • 충남대학교 차세대기판학과
  • 1충남대학교 공과대학 신소재공학과
Byeongguk Min, and Hyojin Kim1, †
  • Graduate School of Advanced Circuit Substrate Engineering, Chungnam National University, Daejeon 34134, Republic of Korea
  • 1Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Chungnam National University, Deajeon 34134, Republic of Korea
E-mail:
We report on the fabrication and characterization of an oxide photoanode with a zinc oxide (ZnO) nanorod array embedded in cuprous oxide (Cu2O) thin film, namely a ZnO/Cu2O oxide p-n heterostructure photoanode, for enhanced efficiency of visible light driven photoelectrochemical (PEC) water splitting. A vertically oriented n-type ZnO nanorod array is first prepared on an indium-tin-oxide-coated glass substrate via a seed-mediated hydrothermal synthesis method and then a p-type Cu2O thin film is directly electrodeposited onto the vertically oriented ZnO nanorod array to form an oxide p-n heterostructure. The introduction of Cu2O layer produces a noticeable enhancement in the visible light absorption. From the observed PEC current density versus voltage (J-V) behavior under visible light illumination, the photoconversion efficiency of this ZnO/Cu2O p-n heterostructure photoanode is found to reach 0.39 %, which is seven times that of a pristine ZnO nanorod photoanode. In particular, a significant PEC performance is observed even at an applied bias of 0 V vs Hg/Hg2Cl2, which makes the device self-powered. The observed improvement in the PEC performance is attributed to some synergistic effect of the pn bilayer heterostructure on the formation of a built-in potential including the light absorption and separation processes of photoinduced charge carriers, which provides a new avenue for preparing efficient photoanodes for PEC water splitting.
Keywords:oxide heterostructure;zinc oxide;cuprous oxide;photoanode;photoelectrochemical water splitting
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