Bismuth vanadate (BiVO4) has been widely regarded as a promising photoanode material for photoelectrochemical (PEC) water splitting because of its low cost, its high stability against photocorrosion, and its relatively narrow band gap of 2.4 eV. However, the achieved performance of the BiVO4 photoanode remains unsatisfactory to date because its short carrier diffusion length restricts the total...

A facile electrochemical method was developed to synthesize CdS/ZnO nanotube arrays. Implemented as the photoanode in a photoelectrochemical cell, the CdS/ZnO nanotube arrays exhibited a photocurrent as high as 10.64 mA cm(-2).

A hematite photoanode showing a stable, record-breaking performance of 4.32 mA/cm² photoelectrochemical water oxidation current at 1.23 V vs. RHE under simulated 1-sun (100 mW/cm²) irradiation is reported. This photocurrent corresponds to ca. 34% of the maximum theoretical limit expected for hematite with a band gap of 2.1 V. The photoanode produced stoichiometric hydrogen and oxygen gases in a...

Li-doped ZnO (LZO) aggregated nanoparticles are used as an insulating layer in SnO2 nanocomposite (SNC) photoanodes to suppress the recombination process in dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs). Various weight percentages of SnO2 nanoparticles (SNPs) and SnO2 nanoflowers (SNFs) were used to prepare SNC photoanodes. The photocurrent-voltage characteristics showed that the incorporation of an LZO i...

Efficient photocatalytic water splitting requires effective generation, separation and transfer of photo-induced charge carriers that can hardly be achieved simultaneously in a single material. Here we show that the effectiveness of each process can be separately maximized in a nanostructured heterojunction with extremely thin absorber layer. We demonstrate this concept on WO3/BiVO4+CoPi core-s...

A composite photoanode comprising ultralong ZnO nanobelts and TiO2 nanoparticles was prepared and its performance in dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) was optimized and compared to the photoanode consisting of conventional TiO2 nanoparticles. The ultralong ZnO nanobelts were synthesized in high yield by a facile solution approach at 90°C followed by annealing at 500°C. The effect of the ratio ...

The sun is the primary energy source of our planet and potentially can supply all societies with more than just their basic energy needs. Demand of electric energy can be satisfied with photovoltaics, however the global demand for fuels is even higher. The direct way to produce the solar fuel hydrogen is by water splitting in photoelectrochemical (PEC) cells, an artificial mimic of photosynthes...

A combination of 3-dimensional (3D) hollow mesoporous ZnO microspheres (ZnO HMSP) and vertically grown one-dimensional ZnO nanowires (1D ZnO NWs) on a fluorine doped tin oxide (FTO) coated glass substrate has been investigated as a photoanode for a CdS quantum dot-sensitized solar cell (QSSC). A comparative study of the photovoltaic performance of the solar cell with devices fabricated with pri...

A core-shell photoanode, composed of a monoclinic WO3 nanorods core encapsulated with a rutile TiO2 nanoparticles shell, reveals ~246% enhancement in power conversion efficiency due to improved current density and open circuit voltage values and longer-lived charge carriers.

In this communication, a novel CdSe/CdS/ZnO nanowire array fabricated by a 3-step solution-based method was used as a photoanode of a quantum dot sensitized solar cell, which generated a maximum power conversion efficiency of 4.15%.