Significant improvements in InGaN/GaN nano-photoelectrodes for hydrogen generation by structure and polarization optimization

Tao Tao; Ting Zhi; Bin Liu; Mingxue Li; Zhe Zhuang; Jiangping Dai; Yi Li; Fulong Jiang; Wenjun Luo; Zili Xie; Dunjun Chen; Peng Chen; Zhaosheng Li; Zhigang Zou; Rong Zhang; Youdou Zheng

doi:10.1038/srep20218

Significant improvements in InGaN/GaN nano-photoelectrodes for hydrogen generation by structure and polarization optimization

Sci Rep. 2016 Feb 8:6:20218. doi: 10.1038/srep20218.

Authors

Tao Tao^{1

2}, Ting Zhi^{1

2}, Bin Liu^{1

2}, Mingxue Li^{3

2

4}, Zhe Zhuang^{1

2}, Jiangping Dai^{1

2}, Yi Li^{1

2}, Fulong Jiang^{1

2}, Wenjun Luo^{3

2}, Zili Xie^{1

2}, Dunjun Chen^{1

2}, Peng Chen^{1

2}, Zhaosheng Li^{3

2}, Zhigang Zou^{3

2}, Rong Zhang^{1

2}, Youdou Zheng^{1

2}

Affiliations

¹ Jiangsu Provincial Key Laboratory of Advanced Photonic and Electronic Materials, School of Electronic Science and Engineering, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210093, P. R. China.
² National Laboratory of Solid Microstructures, Collaborative Innovation Center of Advanced Microstructures, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210093, P. R. China.
³ Ecomaterials and Renewable Energy Research Center (ERERC), School of Physics, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210093, P. R. China.
⁴ Department of Physics, College of Science, China University of Mining and Technology, Xuzhou, Jiangsu Province 221116, P. R. China.

Abstract

The photoelectrodes based on III-nitride semiconductors with high energy conversion efficiency especially for those self-driven ones are greatly desirable for hydrogen generation. In this study, highly ordered InGaN/GaN multiple-quantum-well nanorod-based photoelectrodes have been fabricated by a soft UV-curing nano-imprint lithography and a top-down etching technique, which improve the incident photon conversion efficiency (IPCE) from 16% (planar structure) to 42% (@ wavelength = 400 nm). More significantly, the turn-on voltage is reduced low to -0.6 V, which indicates the possibility of achieving self-driven. Furthermore, SiO2/Si3N4 dielectric distributed Bragg reflectors are employed to further improve the IPCE up to 60%. And the photocurrent (@ 1.1 V) is enhanced from 0.37 mA/cm(2) (original planar structure) to 1.5 mA/cm(2). These improvements may accelerate the possible applications for hydrogen generation with high energy-efficiency.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't