Issue 58, 2019

TiO2/graphene/CuSbS2 mixed-dimensional array with high-performance photoelectrochemical properties

Abstract

The growing demands for reproducible and clean sources of power has prompted the exploitation of novel materials for solar-energy conversion; in any case, the improvement of their conversion efficiency remains a big challenge. We report a mixed-dimensional heterostructure to synchronously enhance charge separation and light-absorption of the photoanodes via the introduction of two-dimensional reduced graphene oxide and zero-dimensional CuSbS2 quantum dots on one-dimensional TiO2 arrays. The experimental results show that the graphene sheets with a low Fermi level and a superior electron mobility accept photo-excited electrons from TiO2 and enable fast electron transportation; while the CuSbS2 quantum dots promote the visible light-absorption of the photoanode. The synergistic effects in this mixed-dimensional (1Dā€“2Dā€“0D) heterostructure photoanode induce a markedly raised photoconversion efficiency of 1.2% at 0.3 V and a photocurrent density of 5.5 mA cmāˆ’2 at 0.4 V. Furthermore, the photocurrent density of the mixed-dimensional heterostructure exceeds previously reported TiO2-based photoanodes in neutral media. The improved photoelectrochemical properties are attributed to the synergistic-effect-induced highly organized, mixed-dimensional architectures. It is expected that the mixed-dimensional heterostructure photoanode will be a potential candidate for applications in environmental remediation and energy fields.

Graphical abstract: TiO2/graphene/CuSbS2 mixed-dimensional array with high-performance photoelectrochemical properties

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
09 Sep 2019
Accepted
14 Oct 2019
First published
21 Oct 2019
This article is Open Access
Creative Commons BY license

RSC Adv., 2019,9, 33747-33754

TiO2/graphene/CuSbS2 mixed-dimensional array with high-performance photoelectrochemical properties

Q. Chen, Z. Wang, K. Chen, Q. Fu, Y. Liu, Y. Zhang, D. Li and C. Pan, RSC Adv., 2019, 9, 33747 DOI: 10.1039/C9RA07237C

This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported Licence. You can use material from this article in other publications without requesting further permissions from the RSC, provided that the correct acknowledgement is given.

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