{Ni₄O₄} Cluster Complex to Enhance the Reductive Photocurrent Response on Silicon Nanowire Photocathodes

Yatin J Mange; Soundarrajan Chandrasekaran; Nathan Hollingsworth; Nicolas H Voelcker; Ivan P Parkin; Thomas Nann; Thomas J Macdonald

doi:10.3390/nano7020033

{Ni₄O₄} Cluster Complex to Enhance the Reductive Photocurrent Response on Silicon Nanowire Photocathodes

Nanomaterials (Basel). 2017 Feb 6;7(2):33. doi: 10.3390/nano7020033.

Authors

Yatin J Mange¹, Soundarrajan Chandrasekaran², Nathan Hollingsworth³, Nicolas H Voelcker⁴, Ivan P Parkin⁵, Thomas Nann⁶, Thomas J Macdonald⁷

Affiliations

¹ Future Industries Institute, University of South Australia, Mawson Lakes, 5095 SA, Australia. yatinmange@yahoo.com.
² Future Industries Institute, University of South Australia, Mawson Lakes, 5095 SA, Australia. soundarbiotech@gmail.com.
³ Department of Chemistry, University College London, London WC1H 0AJ, UK. n.hollingsworth@ucl.ac.uk.
⁴ Future Industries Institute, University of South Australia, Mawson Lakes, 5095 SA, Australia. nico.voelcker@unisa.edu.au.
⁵ Department of Chemistry, University College London, London WC1H 0AJ, UK. i.p.parkin@ucl.ac.uk.
⁶ MacDiarmid Institute for Advanced Materials and Nanotechnology, School of Chemical and Physical Sciences, Victoria University of Wellington, Wellington 6140, New Zealand. thomas.nann@vuw.ac.nz.
⁷ Department of Chemistry, University College London, London WC1H 0AJ, UK. tom.macdonald@ucl.ac.uk.

Abstract

Metal organic {Ni₄O₄} clusters, known oxidation catalysts, have been shown to provide a valuable route in increasing the photocurrent response on silicon nanowire (SiNW) photocathodes. {Ni₄O₄} clusters have been paired with SiNWs to form a new photocathode composite for water splitting. Under AM1.5 conditions, the combination of {Ni₄O₄} clusters with SiNWs gave a current density of -16 mA/cm², which corresponds to an increase in current density of 60% when compared to bare SiNWs. The composite electrode was fully characterised and shown to be an efficient and stable photocathode for water splitting.

Keywords: nanowires; nickel oxide; photocathode; water splitting.