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Nano Research 2018, 11(1): 520-529 https://doi.org/10.1007/s12274-017-1663-7
Research Article | Issue | Published: 27 June 2017

Improved plasmon-assisted photoelectric conversion efficiency across entire ultraviolet–visible region based on antenna-on zinc oxide/silver three-dimensional nanostructured films

Show Author's Information Lijuan Yan1,§,  Yang Liu2,§,  Yaning Yan1,  Lanfang Wang1,  Juan Han1,  Yanan Wang1,  Guowei Zhou1,  Mark T. Swihart2,  Xiaohong Xu1,3( )
School of Chemistry and Materials Science of Shanxi Normal University & Key Laboratory of Magnetic Molecules and Magnetic Information Materials of Ministry of EducationLinfen041004China
Department of Chemical and Biological EngineeringUniversity at Buffalo (SUNY), BuffaloNew York14260-4200USA
Research Institute of Materials Science of Shanxi Normal UniversityLinfen041004China

§ Lijuan Yan and Yang Liu contributed equally to this work.

Keywords:
photoelectric conversion efficiency, localized surface plasmon resonance, ZnO/Ag nanostructured films, Ag nanoparticles
Cite this article:
Yan L, Liu Y, Yan Y, et al. Improved plasmon-assisted photoelectric conversion efficiency across entire ultraviolet–visible region based on antenna-on zinc oxide/silver three-dimensional nanostructured films. Nano Research, 2018, 11(1): 520-529. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12274-017-1663-7
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Abstract Full text Electronic supplementary material About this article

ZnO has received tremendous attention for applications in photoelectrochemical water splitting, photocatalysis, and photovoltaic devices. However, the photoelectric conversion efficiency of ZnO is limited by the rapid recombination of photoexcited electron–hole pairs and the wide band gap, which allows only a small fraction of the solar spectrum to be absorbed. Recently, substantial research efforts have aimed to increase the photoelectric conversion efficiency across the entire ultraviolet–visible (UV–vis) spectrum by coupling semiconductors such as ZnO with noble metal nanoparticles (NPs). In this study, we compare the performance of a pure ZnO film and ZnO/Ag nanostructured films as photoelectrodes.We show that under broad-spectrum UV–vis illumination, the photocurrent generated in the ZnO/Ag three-dimensional (3D) nanostructured films increases 3.75 times relative to the photocurrent generated in the pure ZnO films. We attribute the high photocurrent to the electric-field enhancement associated with the localized surface plasmon resonance of the Ag NPs, which are present at a high density in the 3D nanostructured films, and to the creation of photoexcited hot electrons in Ag that are transferred to ZnO, promoting electron–hole pair separation. We propose a mechanism to explain the observed enhancement of the photoelectric conversion efficiency.


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About this article

Improved plasmon-assisted photoelectric conversion efficiency across entire ultraviolet–visible region based on antenna-on zinc oxide/silver three-dimensional nanostructured films

Show Author's information Lijuan Yan1,§, Yang Liu2,§, Yaning Yan1, Lanfang Wang1, Juan Han1, Yanan Wang1, Guowei Zhou1, Mark T. Swihart2, Xiaohong Xu1,3( )
School of Chemistry and Materials Science of Shanxi Normal University & Key Laboratory of Magnetic Molecules and Magnetic Information Materials of Ministry of EducationLinfen041004China
Department of Chemical and Biological EngineeringUniversity at Buffalo (SUNY), BuffaloNew York14260-4200USA
Research Institute of Materials Science of Shanxi Normal UniversityLinfen041004China

§ Lijuan Yan and Yang Liu contributed equally to this work.

Abstract

ZnO has received tremendous attention for applications in photoelectrochemical water splitting, photocatalysis, and photovoltaic devices. However, the photoelectric conversion efficiency of ZnO is limited by the rapid recombination of photoexcited electron–hole pairs and the wide band gap, which allows only a small fraction of the solar spectrum to be absorbed. Recently, substantial research efforts have aimed to increase the photoelectric conversion efficiency across the entire ultraviolet–visible (UV–vis) spectrum by coupling semiconductors such as ZnO with noble metal nanoparticles (NPs). In this study, we compare the performance of a pure ZnO film and ZnO/Ag nanostructured films as photoelectrodes.We show that under broad-spectrum UV–vis illumination, the photocurrent generated in the ZnO/Ag three-dimensional (3D) nanostructured films increases 3.75 times relative to the photocurrent generated in the pure ZnO films. We attribute the high photocurrent to the electric-field enhancement associated with the localized surface plasmon resonance of the Ag NPs, which are present at a high density in the 3D nanostructured films, and to the creation of photoexcited hot electrons in Ag that are transferred to ZnO, promoting electron–hole pair separation. We propose a mechanism to explain the observed enhancement of the photoelectric conversion efficiency.

Keywords: photoelectric conversion efficiency, localized surface plasmon resonance, ZnO/Ag nanostructured films, Ag nanoparticles

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Publication history
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Acknowledgements

Publication history

Received: 05 December 2016
Revised: 01 May 2017
Accepted: 04 May 2017
Published: 27 June 2017
Issue date: January 2018

Copyright

© Tsinghua University Press and Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany 2017

Acknowledgements

Acknowledgements

The work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC) (Nos. 61434002 and 11611540333), the Special Funds of Shanxi Scholars Program, the National key Research and Development Plan of China, the Ministry of Education of China (No. IRT1156), and the Sanjin Scholar Project.

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