Constructing one-dimensional silver nanowire-doped reduced graphene oxide integrated with CdS nanowire network hybrid structures toward artificial photosynthesis

Abstract

A ternary hybrid structure of one-dimensional (1D) silver nanowire-doped reduced graphene oxide (RGO) integrated with a CdS nanowire (NW) network has been fabricated via a simple electrostatic self-assembly method followed by a hydrothermal reduction process. The electrical conductivity of RGO can be significantly enhanced by opening up new conduction channels by bridging the high resistance grain-boundaries (HGBs) with 1D Ag nanowires, which results in a prolonged lifetime of photo-generated charge carriers excited from the CdS NW network, thus making Ag NW–RGO an efficient co-catalyst with the CdS NW network toward artificial photosynthesis.