Korean Journal of Materials Research (한국재료학회지)

Materials Research Society of Korea (한국재료학회)
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Fabrication and Photoelectrochemical Properties of an Oxide Photoanode with Zinc Oxide Nanorod Array Embedded in Cuprous Oxide Thin Film

산화아연 나노막대가 내장된 아산화구리 박막 구조를 이용한 산화물 광양극 제작 및 광전기화학적 특성

  • Min, Byeongguk (Graduate School of Advanced Circuit Substrate Engineering, Chungnam National University) ;
  • Kim, Hyojin (Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Chungnam National University)
  • 민병국 (충남대학교 차세대기판학과) ;
  • 김효진 (충남대학교 공과대학 신소재공학과)
  • Received : 2019.01.08
  • Accepted : 2019.02.27
  • Published : 2019.03.27
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Abstract

We report on the fabrication and characterization of an oxide photoanode with a zinc oxide (ZnO) nanorod array embedded in cuprous oxide ($Cu_2O$) thin film, namely a $ZnO/Cu_2O$ 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 $Cu_2O$ thin film is directly electrodeposited onto the vertically oriented ZnO nanorod array to form an oxide p-n heterostructure. The introduction of $Cu_2O$ 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 $ZnO/Cu_2O$ 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 $Hg/Hg_2Cl_2$, which makes the device self-powered. The observed improvement in the PEC performance is attributed to some synergistic effect of the p-n 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.

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