Au nanoparticle sensitized ZnO nanopencil arrays for photoelectrochemical water splitting

• DOI: 10.1039/c4nr03735a
• Publication Date: 2014-07-24T14:16:30Z
• Authors: Tuo Wang; Rui Lv; Peng Zhang; Changjiang Li; Jinlong Gong
• Keywords: 02 engineering and technology; 0210 nano-technology; 7. Clean energy; 6. Clean water

This paper describes the synthesis of Au nanoparticle sensitized ZnO nanopencil arrays on F-doped SnO2 substrates by an aqueous chemical growth and subsequent photoreduction method. The Au-ZnO yield a photocurrent ∼ 1.5 mA cm(-2) at 1 V versus Ag/AgCl. enhanced is attributed to surface plasmon resonance effect nanoparticles prolonged lifetime photo-generated electron-hole pairs. improved stability due energy transfer process enabled nanoparticles, which enhances electric field intensity in small, well-defined location semiconductor.