Tunable morphology and band gap alteration of CuO-ZnO nanostructures based photocathode for solar photoelectrochemical cells
A homogeneous CuO-ZnO nanostructure with tunable morphology and optical band structure is successfully synthesized via a hydrothermal method under the different dopant mole ratios of Cu. The robust correlation between the crystallite size, surface morphology, optical band gap alteration of the synth...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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IOP Publishing
2020-01-01
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| Series: | Materials Research Express |
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| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1088/2053-1591/abd1e6 |
| _version_ | 1797746808550588416 |
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| author | Nusayba A Albadarin Mohd Sobri Takriff Sin Tee Tan Seyed Ahmad Shahahmadi Lorna Jeffery Minggu Abdul Amir H Kadhum Wong Wai Yin Mohd Nur Ikhmal Salehmin Ensaf M Alkhalqi Muhammad Azmi Abdul Hamid Nowshad Amin |
| author_facet | Nusayba A Albadarin Mohd Sobri Takriff Sin Tee Tan Seyed Ahmad Shahahmadi Lorna Jeffery Minggu Abdul Amir H Kadhum Wong Wai Yin Mohd Nur Ikhmal Salehmin Ensaf M Alkhalqi Muhammad Azmi Abdul Hamid Nowshad Amin |
| author_sort | Nusayba A Albadarin |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | A homogeneous CuO-ZnO nanostructure with tunable morphology and optical band structure is successfully synthesized via a hydrothermal method under the different dopant mole ratios of Cu. The robust correlation between the crystallite size, surface morphology, optical band gap alteration of the synthesized CuO-ZnO and its performance in photoelectrochemical (PEC) activity are investigated and compared to the reference ZnO based photocathode. In this report, it is found that the morphology of hexagonal ZnO nanorod is changed to nanosheet and vertically align CuO-ZnO based nanograss after the Cu incorporation. This result is mainly due to the composition phase change after the excessive incorporation of Cu metal into ZnO lattice. Furthermore, the optical band gap of the sample also presented a bathochromic shifted after the Cu insertion. The measurements on PEC activity of CuO-ZnO nanostructure was performed under the irradiation of a 100 mWcm ^−2 Xenon light in 0.5M Na _2 SO _4 electrolyte. Among the sample, 0 Zn:1 Cu exhibited a highest photocurrent density which is 5 fold as compared to its reference ZnO samples. This finding could be due to the highest surface active area and lowest optical energy band gap in the 0 Zn:1 Cu nanograss that eventually contributes to a high free electron density that facilitates the charge transport in the photoelectrochemical cells. This novel approach could provide an alternative to the future solar hydrogenation application. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-12T15:42:05Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-60781b9eb92e4940b88777474e55fe4f |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2053-1591 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-12T15:42:05Z |
| publishDate | 2020-01-01 |
| publisher | IOP Publishing |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Materials Research Express |
| spelling | doaj.art-60781b9eb92e4940b88777474e55fe4f2023-08-09T15:55:33ZengIOP PublishingMaterials Research Express2053-15912020-01-0171212501010.1088/2053-1591/abd1e6Tunable morphology and band gap alteration of CuO-ZnO nanostructures based photocathode for solar photoelectrochemical cellsNusayba A Albadarin0https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4064-7728Mohd Sobri Takriff1Sin Tee Tan2Seyed Ahmad Shahahmadi3Lorna Jeffery Minggu4Abdul Amir H Kadhum5Wong Wai Yin6Mohd Nur Ikhmal Salehmin7Ensaf M Alkhalqi8Muhammad Azmi Abdul Hamid9Nowshad Amin10Department Chemical and Process Engineering, Faculty of Engineering and Built Environment, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia , 43600 UKM Bangi, Selangor, MalaysiaDepartment Chemical and Process Engineering, Faculty of Engineering and Built Environment, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia , 43600 UKM Bangi, Selangor, MalaysiaDepartment of Physics, Faculty of Science, Universiti Putra Malaysia , 43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, MalaysiaInstitute of Sustainable Energy (ISE), Universiti Tenaga Nasional (@The National Energy University ), Jalan IKRAM-UNITEN, 43000 Kajang, Selangor, MalaysiaFuel Cell Institute, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia , 43600 UKM Bangi, Selangor, MalaysiaDepartment Chemical and Process Engineering, Faculty of Engineering and Built Environment, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia , 43600 UKM Bangi, Selangor, MalaysiaFuel Cell Institute, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia , 43600 UKM Bangi, Selangor, MalaysiaFuel Cell Institute, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia , 43600 UKM Bangi, Selangor, MalaysiaDepartment of Applied Physics, Faculty of Science & Technology, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia , 43600 UKM Bangi, Selangor, MalaysiaDepartment of Applied Physics, Faculty of Science & Technology, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia , 43600 UKM Bangi, Selangor, MalaysiaInstitute of Sustainable Energy (ISE), Universiti Tenaga Nasional (@The National Energy University ), Jalan IKRAM-UNITEN, 43000 Kajang, Selangor, MalaysiaA homogeneous CuO-ZnO nanostructure with tunable morphology and optical band structure is successfully synthesized via a hydrothermal method under the different dopant mole ratios of Cu. The robust correlation between the crystallite size, surface morphology, optical band gap alteration of the synthesized CuO-ZnO and its performance in photoelectrochemical (PEC) activity are investigated and compared to the reference ZnO based photocathode. In this report, it is found that the morphology of hexagonal ZnO nanorod is changed to nanosheet and vertically align CuO-ZnO based nanograss after the Cu incorporation. This result is mainly due to the composition phase change after the excessive incorporation of Cu metal into ZnO lattice. Furthermore, the optical band gap of the sample also presented a bathochromic shifted after the Cu insertion. The measurements on PEC activity of CuO-ZnO nanostructure was performed under the irradiation of a 100 mWcm ^−2 Xenon light in 0.5M Na _2 SO _4 electrolyte. Among the sample, 0 Zn:1 Cu exhibited a highest photocurrent density which is 5 fold as compared to its reference ZnO samples. This finding could be due to the highest surface active area and lowest optical energy band gap in the 0 Zn:1 Cu nanograss that eventually contributes to a high free electron density that facilitates the charge transport in the photoelectrochemical cells. This novel approach could provide an alternative to the future solar hydrogenation application.https://doi.org/10.1088/2053-1591/abd1e6MorphologyBandGapXRDphotoelectrochemicalnanorod |
| spellingShingle | Nusayba A Albadarin Mohd Sobri Takriff Sin Tee Tan Seyed Ahmad Shahahmadi Lorna Jeffery Minggu Abdul Amir H Kadhum Wong Wai Yin Mohd Nur Ikhmal Salehmin Ensaf M Alkhalqi Muhammad Azmi Abdul Hamid Nowshad Amin Tunable morphology and band gap alteration of CuO-ZnO nanostructures based photocathode for solar photoelectrochemical cells Materials Research Express Morphology Band Gap XRD photoelectrochemical nanorod |
| title | Tunable morphology and band gap alteration of CuO-ZnO nanostructures based photocathode for solar photoelectrochemical cells |
| title_full | Tunable morphology and band gap alteration of CuO-ZnO nanostructures based photocathode for solar photoelectrochemical cells |
| title_fullStr | Tunable morphology and band gap alteration of CuO-ZnO nanostructures based photocathode for solar photoelectrochemical cells |
| title_full_unstemmed | Tunable morphology and band gap alteration of CuO-ZnO nanostructures based photocathode for solar photoelectrochemical cells |
| title_short | Tunable morphology and band gap alteration of CuO-ZnO nanostructures based photocathode for solar photoelectrochemical cells |
| title_sort | tunable morphology and band gap alteration of cuo zno nanostructures based photocathode for solar photoelectrochemical cells |
| topic | Morphology Band Gap XRD photoelectrochemical nanorod |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1088/2053-1591/abd1e6 |
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