Synergistically promoted charge separation/transfer in a ZnO nanosheet photoanode via the incorporation of multifunctional 3DrGO

Bing He; Hexuan Sheng; Qian Liu; Zhifu Hu; Jingnan Wang; Xiaoqin Hu; Yingkui Yang; Yang Wang; Zhen Li; Xueqin Liu

doi:10.1039/d2cc02725a

Synergistically promoted charge separation/transfer in a ZnO nanosheet photoanode via the incorporation of multifunctional 3DrGO

Chem Commun (Camb). 2022 Aug 2;58(62):8622-8625. doi: 10.1039/d2cc02725a.

Authors

Bing He¹, Hexuan Sheng¹, Qian Liu¹, Zhifu Hu¹, Jingnan Wang¹, Xiaoqin Hu¹, Yingkui Yang², Yang Wang¹, Zhen Li¹, Xueqin Liu¹

Affiliations

¹ Faculty of Materials Science and Chemistry, China University of Geosciences, Wuhan, 430074, P. R. China. liuxq@cug.edu.cn.
² Key Laboratory of Catalysis and Energy Materials Chemistry of Ministry of Education & Hubei Key Laboratory of Catalysis and Materials Science, South-Central University for Nationalities, Wuhan, 430074, China.

PMID: 35822672
DOI: 10.1039/d2cc02725a

Abstract

Herein, we report a robust strategy to markedly promote charge separation and transfer via electrodepositing ZnO nanosheets into a cross-linked porous three-dimensional reduced graphene oxide (3DrGO) network structure to form a ZnO/3DrGO photoanode. In addition to the high electrical conductivity and 3D porous architecture, the photothermal effect of 3DrGO activated by a near-infrared (NIR) laser or NIR light of solar radiation can be used to increase the temperature of the photoanodes in situ, further enhancing the charge transfer efficiency of ZnO nanosheets. With the synergistic effect of 3DrGO, the photocurrent density of the ZnO/3DrGO photoanode (2.03 mA cm^-2) is about three times higher than that of the pure ZnO photoanode (0.51 mA cm^-2) at 1.23 V vs. reversible reference electrode (V_RHE). This work provides an effective strategy for improving the PEC water splitting performance of photoanodes via the incorporation of multifunctional 3D porous architecture rGO.