Abstract
Antimony selenide (Sb2Se3) is a narrow-band-gap semiconductor that has been increasingly used as an excellent light-harvesting material in photoelectrocatalysis. The unique connections of the one-dimensional (Sb4Se6)n ribbon structural units determine the high anisotropy of their carrier transport. In this study, a reduced graphene oxide (rGO)-modified quasi-one-dimensional Sb2Se3@In2S3 light-trapping heterostructure was successfully constructed by vapor transport deposition followed by an in situ hydrothermal method. The results showed that the thickness of the in situ grown non-layered In2S3 nanosheets was significantly reduced from 30 to 10 nm under the space-confinement effect of rGO, facilitating the construction of light-trapping nanostructures and increasing the electrochemically active surface area of the photoelectrode. The quasi-one-dimensional Sb2Se3@In2S3-rGO nanorod photoelectrode achieved a higher photocurrent density (1.169 mA cm−2), which was 2 and 16 times higher than that of Sb2Se3@In2S3 and pristine Sb2Se3, respectively. The ultrathin In2S3 nanosheets were co-modified with rGO nanosheets to fabricate a brush-like composite photoelectrode that exhibited favourable stability with an average hydrogen production rate of 16.59 µmol cm−2 h−1 under neutral conditions. The experimental results and theoretical calculations both showed that the significant improvement in photoelectrochemical performance can be perfectly explained by the type-II heterojunction mechanism. This study provides a new exploration to design rGO-modified composite photoelectrodes for photoelectrochemical applications.
摘要
硒化锑(Sb2Se3)属于窄带隙半导体材料, 具有良好的光吸收特性, 已逐渐应用于光电催化领域. 独特的一维(Sb4Se6)n带状结构单元连接方 式, 使其载流子传输具有高度各向异性. 本文通过气相输运沉积法和原 位水热法成功构建了还原氧化石墨烯(rGO)修饰的准一维Sb2Se3@In2S3 光陷阱异质结. 研究结果表明, 在rGO空间限域效应下, 原位生长的非 层状In2S3纳米片厚度从30 nm减小到10 nm, 显著增加了光电极的电化 学活性比表面积, 进一步增强了光陷阱纳米结构对光的捕获能力. rGO 和超薄In2S3纳米片共同修饰的准一维毛刷状Sb2Se3@In2S3-rGO纳米棒 光电极在0 V(相对于可逆氢电极)的外加偏压下, 光电流密度可达 1.169 mA cm−2, 约是Sb2Se3@In2S3和单体Sb2Se3的2倍和16倍, 且稳定性 良好, 在中性条件下平均产氢速率为16.59 µmol cm−2 h−1. 实验结果和 理论计算均表明, II型异质结电荷传输方式是其光电化学增强的物理机 制. 以上工作为设计基于rGO修饰的复合光电极用于光电化学领域的 研究提供了崭新的思路.
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Acknowledgements
This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (11974276, 11804274, and 22078261).
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Cheng Y carried out the project and wrote the draft. Cheng Y, Sun Q, Li Q and Zhang W performed the experiments. Liu E and Fan J checked and revised the manuscript. Xie H conducted the model optimization and performed the DFT calculations. Miao H and Hu X guided and supervised the project. All authors contributed to the general discussion.
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Yufei Cheng is a PhD candidate at the School of Physics, Northwest University. He received his master’s degree in 2018 from the Northwest University. His current research is the design and synthesis of antimony chalcogenides for photoelectrochemical water splitting.
Hui Miao is currently an associate professor at the School of Physics, Northwest University. He received his PhD degree in 2017 from the Northwest University. His research focuses on the development of high-performance photoelectrode materials for photoelectrochemical energy storage.
Xiaoyun Hu is currently a professor at the School of Physics, Northwest University. She received her PhD degree in 2005 from the Northwest University. Her research interests include photoelectric functional materials, rare earth luminescent materials, and fluorescence detection materials.
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The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.
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rGO spatially confined growth of ultrathin In2S3 nanosheets for construction of efficient quasi-one-dimensional Sb2Se3-based heterojunction photocathodes
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Cheng, Y., Sun, Q., Li, Q. et al. rGO spatially confined growth of ultrathin In2S3 nanosheets for construction of efficient quasi-one-dimensional Sb2Se3-based heterojunction photocathodes. Sci. China Mater. 66, 1460–1470 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40843-022-2267-7
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40843-022-2267-7