RESUMO
Green energy technology is generally becoming one of hot issues that need to be solved due to the adverse effects on the environment of fossil fuels. One of the strategies being studied and developed by theorists and experimentalists is the use of photoelectrochemical (PEC) cells, which are emerging as a candidate to produce hydrogen from water splitting. However, creating photoelectrodes that meet the requirements for PEC water splitting has emerged as the primary obstacle in bringing this technology to commercial fruition. Here, we construct a heterostructure, which consists of MoS2/TiO2/Au nanoparticles (NPs) to overcome the drawbacks of the photoanode. Owing to the dependence on charge transfer, the bandgap of MoS2/TiO2and the utilization the Au NPs as a stimulant for charges separation of TiO2by localized surface plasmon resonances effect as well as the increase of hot electron injection to cathode, leading to photocatalytic activities are improved. The results have recorded a significant increase in the photocurrent density from 2.3µAcm-2of TiO2to approximately 16.3µAcm-2of MoS2/TiO2/Au NPs. This work unveils a promising route to enhance the visible light adsorption and charge transfer in photo-electrode of the PEC cells by combining two-dimensional materials with metal NPs.
RESUMO
The strategic field of renewable energy production and storage requires novel nanoscale platforms that can feature competitive solar energy conversion properties. Photochemical reactions that promote energy storage, such as water splitting and oxygen-hydrogen evolution reactions, play a crucial role in this context. Here, we demonstrate a novel photoelectrochemical device based on large-area (cm2) self-organized Au nanowire (NW) arrays, uniformly coated with ultrathin TiO2 films. The NW arrays act both as transparent nanoelectrodes and as a plasmonic metasurface that resonantly enhances the very weak visible photocurrent generated by a prototype photoelectrochemical oxygen evolution reaction. We demonstrate a polarization-sensitive plasmon-enhanced photocurrent that reaches a gain of about 3.8 in the visible spectral range. This highlights the potential of our novel nanopatterned plasmonic platform in photochemistry and energy storage.