Plasmonic enhanced Cu                         2                         O-Au-BFO photocathodes for solar hydrogen production

Xiaorong Cheng; Shoulin Gu; Anthony Centeno; Graham Dawson

doi:10.1038/s41598-019-41613-3

Plasmonic enhanced Cu ₂ O-Au-BFO photocathodes for solar hydrogen production

Xiaorong Cheng^*, Shoulin Gu, Anthony Centeno, Graham Dawson

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

22 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

A novel Cu ₂ O-Au-BFO heterostructure photocathode was constructed which significantly improved the efficiency of photo-generated carrier transfer for solar hydrogen production. A BiFeO ₃ (BFO) ferroelectric film was synthesized on top of a Cu ₂ O layer by a sputtering process. The BFO layer acted to protect the Cu ₂ O layer from photochemical corrosion, increasing photoelectrochemical (PEC) stability. The p–n heterojunction between Cu ₂ O and BFO layers enhanced the PEC properties by suppressing charge recombination and improved interfacial charge transfer efficiency. When Cu ₂ O and BFO are interfaced by Au Nanoparticles (NPs) the PEC performance was further enhanced, due to hot-electron transfer at the plasmonic resonance. After positive poling, the depolarization field across the whole volume of BFO film drove electrons into the electrolyte solution, inducing a significant anodic shift, V _op of 1.01 V vs. RHE, together with a significantly enhanced photocurrent density of −91 μA/cm ² at 0 V vs. RHE under 100 mW/cm ² illumination. The mechanism was investigated through experimental and theoretivcal calculations.

Original language	English
Article number	5140
Journal	Scientific Reports
Volume	9
Issue number	1
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-019-41613-3
Publication status	Published - 1 Dec 2019

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title = " Plasmonic enhanced Cu 2 O-Au-BFO photocathodes for solar hydrogen production ",

abstract = " A novel Cu 2 O-Au-BFO heterostructure photocathode was constructed which significantly improved the efficiency of photo-generated carrier transfer for solar hydrogen production. A BiFeO 3 (BFO) ferroelectric film was synthesized on top of a Cu 2 O layer by a sputtering process. The BFO layer acted to protect the Cu 2 O layer from photochemical corrosion, increasing photoelectrochemical (PEC) stability. The p–n heterojunction between Cu 2 O and BFO layers enhanced the PEC properties by suppressing charge recombination and improved interfacial charge transfer efficiency. When Cu 2 O and BFO are interfaced by Au Nanoparticles (NPs) the PEC performance was further enhanced, due to hot-electron transfer at the plasmonic resonance. After positive poling, the depolarization field across the whole volume of BFO film drove electrons into the electrolyte solution, inducing a significant anodic shift, V op of 1.01 V vs. RHE, together with a significantly enhanced photocurrent density of −91 μA/cm 2 at 0 V vs. RHE under 100 mW/cm 2 illumination. The mechanism was investigated through experimental and theoretivcal calculations.",

author = "Xiaorong Cheng and Shoulin Gu and Anthony Centeno and Graham Dawson",

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T1 - Plasmonic enhanced Cu 2 O-Au-BFO photocathodes for solar hydrogen production

AU - Cheng, Xiaorong

AU - Gu, Shoulin

AU - Centeno, Anthony

AU - Dawson, Graham

PY - 2019/12/1

Y1 - 2019/12/1

N2 - A novel Cu 2 O-Au-BFO heterostructure photocathode was constructed which significantly improved the efficiency of photo-generated carrier transfer for solar hydrogen production. A BiFeO 3 (BFO) ferroelectric film was synthesized on top of a Cu 2 O layer by a sputtering process. The BFO layer acted to protect the Cu 2 O layer from photochemical corrosion, increasing photoelectrochemical (PEC) stability. The p–n heterojunction between Cu 2 O and BFO layers enhanced the PEC properties by suppressing charge recombination and improved interfacial charge transfer efficiency. When Cu 2 O and BFO are interfaced by Au Nanoparticles (NPs) the PEC performance was further enhanced, due to hot-electron transfer at the plasmonic resonance. After positive poling, the depolarization field across the whole volume of BFO film drove electrons into the electrolyte solution, inducing a significant anodic shift, V op of 1.01 V vs. RHE, together with a significantly enhanced photocurrent density of −91 μA/cm 2 at 0 V vs. RHE under 100 mW/cm 2 illumination. The mechanism was investigated through experimental and theoretivcal calculations.

AB - A novel Cu 2 O-Au-BFO heterostructure photocathode was constructed which significantly improved the efficiency of photo-generated carrier transfer for solar hydrogen production. A BiFeO 3 (BFO) ferroelectric film was synthesized on top of a Cu 2 O layer by a sputtering process. The BFO layer acted to protect the Cu 2 O layer from photochemical corrosion, increasing photoelectrochemical (PEC) stability. The p–n heterojunction between Cu 2 O and BFO layers enhanced the PEC properties by suppressing charge recombination and improved interfacial charge transfer efficiency. When Cu 2 O and BFO are interfaced by Au Nanoparticles (NPs) the PEC performance was further enhanced, due to hot-electron transfer at the plasmonic resonance. After positive poling, the depolarization field across the whole volume of BFO film drove electrons into the electrolyte solution, inducing a significant anodic shift, V op of 1.01 V vs. RHE, together with a significantly enhanced photocurrent density of −91 μA/cm 2 at 0 V vs. RHE under 100 mW/cm 2 illumination. The mechanism was investigated through experimental and theoretivcal calculations.

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Plasmonic enhanced Cu ₂ O-Au-BFO photocathodes for solar hydrogen production

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