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Title: Retarded Charge-Carrier Recombination in Photoelectrochemical Cells from Plasmon-Induced Resonance Energy Transfer

Journal Article · · Advanced Energy Materials
 [1];  [2];  [1];  [3];  [4];  [3];  [5];  [4];  [3];  [6];  [2];  [2]; ORCiD logo [1]
  1. Yonsei Univ., Seoul (Korea, Republic of)
  2. Sungkyunkwan Univ., Suwon (Republic of Korea)
  3. Stanford Univ., CA (United States)
  4. Stanford Univ., CA (United States); SLAC National Accelerator Lab., Menlo Park, CA (United States)
  5. Ewha Womans Univ., Seoul (Korea, Republic of)
  6. Korea Inst. of Machinery and Materials, Daejeon (Korea, Republic of)
+ Show Author Affiliations

N-type metal oxides such as hematite (α-Fe2O3) and bismuth vanadate (BiVO4) are promising candidate materials for efficient photoelectrochemical water splitting; however, their short minority carrier diffusion length and restricted carrier lifetime result in undesired rapid charge recombination. In this paper, a 2D arranged globular Au nanosphere (NS) monolayer array with a highly ordered hexagonal hole pattern (hereafter, Au array) is introduced onto the surface of photoanodes comprised of metal oxide films via a facile drying and transfer-printing process. Through plasmon-induced resonance energy transfer, the Au array provides a strong electromagnetic field in the near-surface area of the metal oxide film. The near-field coupling interaction and amplification of the electromagnetic field suppress the charge recombination with long-lived photogenerated holes and simultaneously enhance the light harvesting and charge transfer efficiencies. Consequently, an over 3.3-fold higher photocurrent density at 1.23 V versus reversible hydrogen electrode (RHE) is achieved for the Au array/α-Fe2O3. Furthermore, the high versatility of this transfer printing of Au arrays is demonstrated by introducing it on the molybdenum-doped BiVO4 film, resulting in 1.5-fold higher photocurrent density at 1.23 V versus RHE. The tailored metal film design can provide a potential strategy for the versatile application in various light-mediated energy conversion and optoelectronic devices.

Research Organization:
SLAC National Accelerator Lab., Menlo Park, CA (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE; Samsung Research Funding Center; National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF)
Grant/Contract Number:
AC02-76SF00515; 2019M3E6A1103999; SRFC-MA1402-09
OSTI ID:
1633434
Journal Information:
Advanced Energy Materials, Vol. 10, Issue 22; ISSN 1614-6832
Publisher:
WileyCopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Citation Metrics:
Cited by: 28 works
Citation information provided by
Web of Science

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Related Subjects

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE
2D pattern array
gold nanospheres
metal oxide photoanodes
solar water splitting