Article
Electrochemistry
K. Govatsi, G. Syrrokostas, S. N. Yannopoulos, S. G. Neophytides
Summary: Undoped and aluminum-doped ZnO nanowire arrays were prepared using chemical bath deposition technique, with optimal doping concentration at 0.5 at.%. The photocurrent density was significantly increased, possibly due to the promoting effect of Al ions and photoactivation of more sites.
ELECTROCHIMICA ACTA
(2021)
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Kiseok Oh, Olivier de Sagazan, Cyril Leon, Sylvain Le Gall, Gabriel Loget
Summary: Dispersed transition metal nanoparticles electrodeposited on n-Si surfaces can enhance photoelectrochemical water splitting without classical protection layers. However, this method lacks control over metal morphology and geometry on the photoanode surface. Templated nanoscale electrodeposition on photoactive n-Si allows for customization of nanoscale inhomogeneous Schottky junctions, serving as stable photoanodes with photoelectrochemical properties dependent on geometrical features. The experimental trends are rationalized using simulation.
Article
Chemistry, Physical
Yuling Wei, Leshuang Wang, Changlong Chen
Summary: Yttrium doped ZnO nanorod array films grown hydrothermally on fluorine doped tin oxide substrates exhibit enhanced photoelectrochemical water splitting performance, attributed to improved light absorption, increased conductivity, and prolonged carrier lifetime caused by yttrium doping. The yttrium doped samples show higher photocurrent density under illumination compared to undoped samples, making them promising platforms for various photocatalytic applications beyond photoelectrochemical water splitting.
JOURNAL OF ALLOYS AND COMPOUNDS
(2022)
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Chanon Pornrungroj, Virgil Andrei, Erwin Reisner
Summary: Photoelectrochemical reactors can utilize waste heat by integrating thermoelectric modules, achieving unassisted water splitting and enhanced photocurrent. This thermal management approach provides a universal strategy for widespread solar fuel production.
JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN CHEMICAL SOCIETY
(2023)
Article
Materials Science, Multidisciplinary
Ameer Abdullah, Fawad Tariq, Mandar A. Kulkarni, Hamza Thaalbi, Jun-Seok Ha, June Key Lee, Sang-Wan Ryu
Summary: In this article, the use of reproducible GaN nanowires (GNWs) with metal oxide overlayers and an efficient co-catalyst is demonstrated for high-performance photoelectrochemical (PEC) water splitting. The facile growth of GNWs using MOCVD method increases the active area for the water splitting reaction and facilitates charge transport. The passivation of surface defects and the visible absorption range of the co-catalyst greatly enhance the photocurrent density and achieve a high solar to hydrogen conversion efficiency of 6.4%.
MATERIALS TODAY PHYSICS
(2023)
Article
Materials Science, Multidisciplinary
Sanchari Banerjee, Subhash Padhan, R. Thangavel
Summary: In this study, Sn and Al co-doped ZnO nanorods were synthesized and characterized for improved photoelectrochemical water splitting. The introduction of dopants led to enhanced light absorption, reduced bandgap, and increased photocurrent densities, showcasing significant potential for enhanced photoelectrochemical performance. The results suggest that the synthesized photocatalysts can serve as efficient photoelectrodes for improved PEC applications.
MATERIALS CHEMISTRY AND PHYSICS
(2022)
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Xin-Yu Yang, Zong-Wei Chen, Xin-Zheng Yue, Xin Du, Xing-Hui Hou, Li-Ying Zhang, De-Liang Chen, Sha-Sha Yi
Summary: A structural engineering strategy is used to coat a ultrathin CoFe bimetal-organic framework (CoFe MOF) layer over a BiVO4 photoanode, resulting in boosted charge separation and transfer. The optimized BiVO4/CoFe MOF(NA) photoanode exhibits a photocurrent density of 3.92 mA cm(-2) at 1.23 V versus reversible hydrogen electrode (RHE), which is 6.03 times higher than that of pristine BiVO4, due to improved efficiency of charge transfer and separation. The CoFe MOF(NA) prolongs charge recombination lifetime and shifts the onset potential negatively, enhancing the performance of the photoanode for solar H-2 production.
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Sheng Ye, Wenwen Shi, Yong Liu, Dongfeng Li, Hang Yin, Haibo Chi, Yaling Luo, Na Ta, Fengtao Fan, Xiuli Wang, Can Li
Summary: This study achieved efficient unassisted overall water splitting by using a photoelectrochemical platform with multimediator modulation, increasing solar energy conversion efficiency. By assembling an integrated system composed of inorganic oxide-based photoanode and organic polymer-based photocathode, the efficiency of solar-to-hydrogen conversion was successfully improved.
JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN CHEMICAL SOCIETY
(2021)
Article
Nanoscience & Nanotechnology
Sweta Rahul, Sweta Sharma, Pooja Devi, Sunil K. Arora
Summary: In this study, a photocathode (PC) was fabricated by spray coating MoSe2 nanosheets on p-SiNWs, and its performance in photoelectrochemical-hydrogen evolution reaction was studied. The p-SiNWs-MoSe2 PC showed significantly higher photocurrent density and lower charge transfer resistance compared to p-SiNWs, attributed to the high donor density of MoSe2 nanosheets. These results provide a scalable and effective route for solar-fuel conversion at a large scale.
Article
Chemistry, Physical
Haibin Wang, Shoichiro Nakao, Naoya Miyashita, Yusuke Oteki, Maxime Giteau, Yoshitaka Okada, Tatsuya Takamoto, Hidenori Saito, Shinichi Magaino, Katsuhiko Takagi, Tetsuya Hasegawa, Takaya Kubo, Takumi Kinoshita, Jotaro Nakazaki, Hiroshi Segawa
Summary: We developed an infrared PbS colloidal quantum dot/ZnO nanowire solar cell as a solution-processed bottom solar cell for multijunction solar cells. By constructing spatially separated carrier pathways and thick PbS quantum dot layers, we achieved high infrared light harvesting efficiency. Optical management also played a crucial role in improving the collection efficiency.
ACS ENERGY LETTERS
(2022)
Article
Nanoscience & Nanotechnology
Xiaoyu Xie, Ru Wang, Yi Ma, Jinping Chen, Qiannan Cui, Zengliang Shi, Zhiyong Li, Chunxiang Xu
Summary: This study investigates the use of MXene nanosheets as a bifunctional surface modifier for enhancing the performance of ZnO nanorod arrays in PEC water oxidation. The MXene nanosheets act as a hole transfer material and combine with ZnO nanorods to construct a heterojunction, inhibiting the recombination of photogenerated charges and improving charge separation. Additionally, the MXene nanosheets function as a photothermal material and generate heat under near-infrared irradiation, elevating the surface temperature of the photoanodes and accelerating charge transfer.
ACS APPLIED NANO MATERIALS
(2022)
Review
Chemistry, Physical
Mohsin Ali Marwat, Muhammad Humayun, Muhammad Waqas Afridi, Haibo Zhang, Muhammad Ramzan Abdul Karim, Malik Ashtar, Muhammad Usman, Saad Waqar, Habib Ullah, Chundong Wang, Wei Luo
Summary: This review provides a detailed explanation of the basic mechanism of PEC water splitting using electrocatalysts, and highlights recent advancements in the design, fabrication, and modification of high-efficiency electrocatalysts for energy conversion.
ACS APPLIED ENERGY MATERIALS
(2021)
Article
Chemistry, Physical
Ch. Venkata Reddy, I. Neelakanta Reddy, K. Ravindranadh, K. Raghava Reddy, Jaesool Shim, Bai Cheolho
Summary: The Au-doped BiVO4 nanostructures prepared by ultrasonication technique showed significantly improved performance as a photoanode for energy harvesting in terms of PEC photocurrent density and supercapacitor properties. The dopant enhanced charge carrier density and acted as an electron donor, contributing to the improved performance of the photoanode.
APPLIED SURFACE SCIENCE
(2021)
Article
Chemistry, Physical
Dan Zhang, Han-Hee Cho, Jun-Ho Yum, Mounir Mensi, Kevin Sivula
Summary: This study demonstrates a robust organic photocathode operating in near-neutral pH electrolyte, achieving high photocurrent density and operational stability. By combining the optimized photocathode with a benchmark photoanode, a large-area organic photoelectrochemical tandem cell for complete solar water splitting is demonstrated, with high predicted solar-to-hydrogen conversion efficiency.
ADVANCED ENERGY MATERIALS
(2022)
Article
Materials Science, Multidisciplinary
Indrajit V. Bagal, Pratik Mane, Maheshwari Arunachalam, Hyojung Bae, Mandar A. Kulkarni, Fawad Tariq, Soon Hyung Kang, Jun-Seok Ha, Sang-Wan Ryu
Summary: By constructing a type-II heterostructure of N-doped ZnO nanowires with an ultra-thin ZnS layer, a core-shell structure is formed which can accelerate the charge transfer process and significantly enhance the resistance to photo-corrosion of N-doped ZnO NWs. The optimal ZnS/N:ZnO core-shell nanowires exhibited a photocurrent density of 0.85 mA cm(-2) at 1.23 Vs RHE, which was 3-fold higher than ZnO nanowires. The reported approach provides possibilities for the construction of efficient and highly stable PEC water-splitting devices.
MATERIALS TODAY PHYSICS
(2023)
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Yipeng Zang, Chen Di, Zhiming Geng, Xuejun Yan, Dianxiang Ji, Ningchong Zheng, Xingyu Jiang, Hanyu Fu, Jianjun Wang, Wei Guo, Haoying Sun, Lu Han, Yunlei Zhou, Zhengbin Gu, Desheng Kong, Hugo Aramberri, Claudio Cazorla, Jorge iniguez, Riccardo Rurali, Longqing Chen, Jian Zhou, Di Wu, Minghui Lu, Yuefeng Nie, Yanfeng Chen, Xiaoqing Pan
Summary: The study reveals a significant enhancement of interfacial thermal resistance at metal/ferroelectric interfaces and highlights the crucial role of surface charges in this process. By applying uniaxial strain, the interfacial thermal resistance can vary substantially, attributed to the renormalized interfacial electron-phonon coupling caused by charge redistribution at the interface.
ADVANCED MATERIALS
(2022)
Article
Materials Science, Multidisciplinary
Yechuan Chen, Ying Huang, Mingjie Xu, Tristan Asset, Xingxu Yan, Kateryna Artyushkova, Mounika Kodali, Eamonn Murphy, Alvin Ly, Xiaoqing Pan, Iryna Zenyuk, Plamen Atanassov
Summary: Transition metal-nitrogen-carbon (M-N-C) materials are promising candidates for energy technology and decarbonization. A secondary heat treatment process, called re-pyrolysis, improves the properties and stability of M-N-C materials. This process leads to the partial amorphization of the carbonaceous substrate and optimization of the material's morphology and association with transition metals.
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Junxiao Zhou, Junxiang Zhao, Qianyi Wu, Ching-Fu Chen, Ming Lei, Guanghao Chen, Fanglin Tian, Zhaowei Liu
Summary: In this study, a single metalens with an illumination intensity dependent coherent transfer function (CTF) is proposed, which enables varying computed imaging without requiring additional optical components. This metalens may have important applications in optical neural networks and parallel analog computing.
ADVANCED FUNCTIONAL MATERIALS
(2022)
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Yeon Ui Lee, Zhaoyu Nie, Shilong Li, Charles-Henri Lambert, Junxiang Zhao, Fan Yang, G. Bimananda M. Wisna, Sui Yang, Xiang Zhang, Zhaowei Liu
Summary: Researchers have fabricated high-quality ultrathin layered hyperbolic metamaterials (HMMs) for the use in super-resolution microscopy. By using this ultrathin layered HMM-assisted illumination, they achieved a 14-fold improvement in imaging resolution, which was verified through experiments.
Article
Chemistry, Physical
Jianghua Wu, Futao Huang, Tom Lee, Yujie Yan, Xudong Pei, Meiyu Wang, Si Gao, Shaohua Guo, Xiaoqing Pan, Peng Wang
Summary: Abundant defects and oxygen vacancies in ultrathin MnO2 nanosheets were achieved through the interface-guided formation method. These nanosheets exhibit high specific capacitance, strong cycling stability, and excellent rate performance due to the active sites provided by the defects and oxygen vacancies.
ACS APPLIED ENERGY MATERIALS
(2022)
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Shichao Ding, Jordan Alysia Barr, Qiurong Shi, Yachao Zeng, Peter Tieu, Zhaoyuan Lyu, Lingzhe Fang, Tao Li, Xiaoqing Pan, Scott P. Beckman, Dan Du, Hongfei Lin, Jin-Cheng Li, Gang Wu, Yuehe Lin
Summary: Fe-N-C single-atomic metal site catalysts (SACs) have attracted great interest as substitutes for Pt-based catalysts in the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) in proton exchange membrane fuel cells. Efforts have been made to modulate the electronic structure of metal single-atomic sites to enhance the catalytic activities. This study uses chlorine to adjust the active center via a near-range coordinated interaction, improving the intrinsic ORR activity.
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Zunjian Ke, Dong He, Xingxu Yan, Wenhui Hu, Nicholas Williams, Hongxing Kang, Xiaoqing Pan, Jier Huang, Jing Gu, Xiangheng Xiao
Summary: Nitrate and nitrite are common contaminants in industrial wastewater and groundwater. The electroreduction of NOx- to produce ammonia presents a sustainable alternative to the energy-intensive Haber-Bosch process. However, the development of selective catalysts that can regulate the reaction pathway and suppress competing reactions is still lacking.
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Yifan Ding, Zixiong Shi, Yingjie Sun, Jianghua Wu, Xiaoqing Pan, Jingyu Sun
Summary: A generic and simple material strategy has been presented to fabricate advanced mediator for improved sulfur electrochemistry. The Li-S cells derived from this strategy exhibit impressive cyclic performances and durable areal capacity, indicating the potential for rationalizing the design and modulation of reliable polysulfide mediators in Li-S batteries.
Article
Chemistry, Analytical
Zhaoyuan Lyu, Shichao Ding, Lingzhe Fang, Xin Li, Tao Li, Mingjie Xu, Xiaoqing Pan, Wenlei Zhu, Yang Zhou, Dan Du, Yuehe Lin
Summary: In this study, a two-dimensional Fe-N-C-based single-atomic-site catalyst (2D Fe-SASC) with excellent peroxidase-like activity was successfully synthesized and used to design ELISA for herbicide detection. The 2D structure of Fe-SASC exposes numerous single atomic active sites on the surface, enhancing the sensing performance. The assembled 2D Fe-SASC into a competitive ELISA kit achieved excellent detection performance for 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4-D). Fe-SASC shows great potential to replace expensive natural enzymes and work on various advanced sensing platforms for the detection of different target biomarkers.
ANALYTICAL CHEMISTRY
(2023)
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Huaixun Huyan, Zhe Wang, Linze Li, Xingxu Yan, Yi Zhang, Colin Heikes, Darrell G. Schlom, Ruqian Wu, Xiaoqing Pan
Summary: Defect engineering in perovskite thin films has received extensive attention due to their atomic-level modification and the design of novel nanostructures. However, three-dimensional defect-assisted nanostructures in thin film matrices usually have large misfit strains and unstable structures. In contrast, one- or two-dimensional defect-assisted nanostructures embedded in thin films can sustain large misfit strains without relaxation, making them suitable for defect engineering in perovskite thin films.
Article
Materials Science, Multidisciplinary
Fanglin Tian, Junxiao Zhou, Qiang Wang, Zhaowei Liu
Summary: Recent progress in the Valley Hall insulator has shown nontrivial topology due to distinct valley index in 2D semiconductor systems. This study proposes a highly tunable topological phase transition using valley photonic crystals, achieved by breaking the inversion symmetry through refractive index changes in optical phase change material (OPCM) in a honeycomb lattice structure. Simulations demonstrate topological protection through light propagation at sharp corners and pseudo-spin photon coupling. Compared to other reconfigurable topological photonics, the proposed scheme offers wider bandwidth and greater tunability in both central bandgap frequency and topological phase transition. The platform holds great potential for practical applications in lasing, light sensing, and high-contrast tunable optical filters.
OPTICAL MATERIALS EXPRESS
(2023)
Article
Optics
Qianyi Wu, Junxiao Zhou, Xinyu Chen, Junxiang Zhao, Ming Lei, Guanghao Chen, Yu-Hwa Lo, Zhaowei Liu
Summary: A single-shot quantitative amplitude and phase imaging (QAPI) method is proposed by inserting a pair of all-dielectric geometric phase metasurfaces into a traditional microscope. The metasurface pair splits a linearly polarized incident beam into two circularly polarized components and deflects them back toward their initial directions. The interference of the laterally displaced replicas of the input object formed by the metasurface pair generates a retardance image, from which the amplitude and phase information of the object can be reconstructed using a polarized camera.
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Jaeha Lee, Peter Tieu, Jordan Finzel, Wenjie Zang, Xingxu Yan, George Graham, Xiaoqing Pan, Phillip Christopher
Summary: The addition of platinum-group metals (PGMs, e.g., Pt) to CeO2 promotes the rate of redox surface reactions in heterogeneous catalysis. However, the mechanistic picture of PGM-promoted H-2 reactions on CeO2 surfaces in powder catalysts remains unclear. This study investigates the influence of Pt nanoclusters and single atoms on H-2 reactions on Pt/CeO2 powder catalysts using controlled catalyst synthesis and various experimental techniques. The results show that Pt can promote H-2 consumption rates even when existing on a small fraction of CeO2 particles, and Pt changes the activation mechanism and rate limiting step for H-2 on CeO2 surfaces.
Review
Physics, Applied
Christopher Addiego, Wenpei Gao, Huaixun Huyan, Xiaoqing Pan
Summary: This article discusses the developments in high-resolution real-space charge distribution imaging using diffraction techniques and electron microscopy, focusing on the recent advancement of four-dimensional scanning transmission electron microscopy, electron holography, and applications to materials interfaces.
NATURE REVIEWS PHYSICS
(2023)
Review
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Xingxu Yan, Chaitanya A. Gadre, Toshihiro Aoki, Xiaoqing Pan
Summary: Vibrational EELS is a groundbreaking spectroscopic technique with unmatched energy resolution and spatial resolution, suitable for both organic and inorganic matter in solid state or liquid phase. This review introduces recent advancements and key concepts of the method, compares with other spectroscopic techniques, and discusses future potential applications in research fields centered on catalysts, polymers, and live cells.
TRENDS IN CHEMISTRY
(2022)
