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Research Article

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

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.

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Graphical Abstract

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 efficiencylocalized surface plasmon resonanceZnO/Ag nanostructured filmsAg nanoparticles

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Nano Research
Volume 11 Issue 1,
January 2018
Pages 520-529
DOI: 10.1007/s12274-017-1663-7
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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Received: 05 December 2016
Revised: 01 May 2017
Accepted: 04 May 2017
Published: 27 June 2017
© Tsinghua University Press and Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany 2017
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