Nanomaterials 2018, 8(5), 323; https://doi.org/10.3390/nano8050323
ZnO/CuO/M (M = Ag, Au) Hierarchical Nanostructure by Successive Photoreduction Process for Solar Hydrogen Generation
Jinhyeong Kwon 1,†, Hyunmin Cho 1,†, Jinwook Jung 1, Habeom Lee 1, Sukjoon Hong 2
, Junyeob Yeo 3, Seungyong Han 4,*
and Seung Hwan Ko 1,5,*
, Junyeob Yeo 3, Seungyong Han 4,*
and Seung Hwan Ko 1,5,*
1
Applied Nano and Thermal Science Lab, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Seoul National University, 1 Gwanak-ro, Gwanak-gu, Seoul 08826, Korea
2
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Hanyang University, 55 Hanyangdaehak-ro, Sangnok-gu, Ansan Gyeonggi-do 15588, Korea
3
Novel Applied Nano Optics (NANO) Lab, Department of Physics, Kyungpook National University, 80 Daehak-ro, Bukgu, Daegu 41566, Korea
4
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Ajou University, 206 Worldcupro, Yeongtong-gu, Suwon 16499, Korea
5
Department of Mechanical Engineering/Institute of Advanced Machinery and Design (SNU-IAMD), Seoul National University, Gwanak-ro, Gwanak-gu, Seoul 08826, Korea
†
These authors contributed equally to this work.
*
Authors to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Received: 17 March 2018 / Revised: 10 May 2018 / Accepted: 10 May 2018 / Published: 12 May 2018
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Nanomaterials for Renewable and Sustainable Energy)
Abstract
To date, solar energy generation devices have been widely studied to meet a clean and sustainable energy source. Among them, water splitting photoelectrochemical cell is regarded as a promising energy generation way for splitting water molecules and generating hydrogen by sunlight. While many nanostructured metal oxides are considered as a candidate, most of them have an improper bandgap structure lowering energy transition efficiency. Herein, we introduce a novel wet-based, successive photoreduction process that can improve charge transfer efficiency by surface plasmon effect for a solar-driven water splitting device. The proposed process enables to fabricate ZnO/CuO/Ag or ZnO/CuO/Au hierarchical nanostructure, having an enhanced electrical, optical, photoelectrochemical property. The fabricated hierarchical nanostructures are demonstrated as a photocathode in the photoelectrochemical cell and characterized by using various analytic tools. View Full-TextKeywords:
hierarchical nanostructure; photochemical; solar water splitting; photoelectrochemical (PEC) cell; surface plasmon
▼
Figures
Figure 1
This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited (CC BY 4.0).
Share & Cite This Article
MDPI and ACS Style
Kwon, J.; Cho, H.; Jung, J.; Lee, H.; Hong, S.; Yeo, J.; Han, S.; Ko, S.H. ZnO/CuO/M (M = Ag, Au) Hierarchical Nanostructure by Successive Photoreduction Process for Solar Hydrogen Generation. Nanomaterials 2018, 8, 323.
Note that from the first issue of 2016, MDPI journals use article numbers instead of page numbers. See further details here.
Related Articles
Article Metrics
Comments
[Return to top]
Nanomaterials
EISSN 2079-4991
Published by MDPI AG, Basel, Switzerland
RSS
E-Mail Table of Contents Alert