A synergetic cocatalyst for conversion of carbon dioxide, sunlight, and water into methanol.

The conversion of CO into liquid fuels, using only sunlight and water, offers a promising path to carbon neutrality. An outstanding challenge is to achieve high efficiency and product selectivity. Here, we introduce a wireless photocatalytic architecture for conversion of CO and water into methanol and oxygen.

Concentrated Solar Light Photoelectrochemical Water Splitting for Stable and High-Yield Hydrogen Production.

Photoelectrochemical water splitting is a promising technique for converting solar energy into low-cost and eco-friendly H fuel. However, the production rate of H is limited by the insufficient number of photogenerated charge carriers in the conventional photoelectrodes under 1 sun (100 mW cm) light. Concentrated solar light irradiation can overcome the issue of low yield, but it leads to a new challenge of stability because the accelerated reaction alters the surface chemical composition of photoelectrodes.

Water-promoted selective photocatalytic methane oxidation for methanol production.

Converting relatively inert methane into active chemical fuels such as methanol with high selectivity through an energy-saving strategy has remained a grand challenge. Photocatalytic technology consuming solar energy is an appealing alternative for methane reforming. However, the low efficiency and the undesirable formation of low-value products, such as carbon dioxide and ethane, limit the commercial application of photocatalytic technology.

Oxynitrides enabled photoelectrochemical water splitting with over 3,000 hrs stable operation in practical two-electrode configuration.

Solar photoelectrochemical reactions have been considered one of the most promising paths for sustainable energy production. To date, however, there has been no demonstration of semiconductor photoelectrodes with long-term stable operation in a two-electrode configuration, which is required for any practical application. Herein, we demonstrate the stable operation of a photocathode comprising Si and GaN, the two most produced semiconductors in the world, for 3,000 hrs without any performance degradation in two-electrode configurations.

Pt nanoclusters on GaN nanowires for solar-asssisted seawater hydrogen evolution.

Seawater electrolysis provides a viable method to produce clean hydrogen fuel. To date, however, the realization of high performance photocathodes for seawater hydrogen evolution reaction has remained challenging. Here, we introduce n-p Si photocathodes with dramatically improved activity and stability for hydrogen evolution reaction in seawater, modified by Pt nanoclusters anchored on GaN nanowires.

Solar-to-hydrogen efficiency of more than 9% in photocatalytic water splitting.

Production of hydrogen fuel from sunlight and water, two of the most abundant natural resources on Earth, offers one of the most promising pathways for carbon neutrality. Some solar hydrogen production approaches, for example, photoelectrochemical water splitting, often require corrosive electrolyte, limiting their performance stability and environmental sustainability. Alternatively, clean hydrogen can be produced directly from sunlight and water by photocatalytic water splitting.

Metal-Support Interaction-Promoted Photothermal Catalytic Methane Reforming into Liquid Fuels.

Clean and renewable photocatalytic technology for methane reforming into high-value liquid fuels, such as methanol, is a promising strategy for commercial industrial applications. However, poor charge separation, sluggish methane activation, and excessive oxidation collectively inhibit the production of methanol from photocatalytic methane reforming. Herein, we have developed enhanced metal-support interactions between a GaN nanowire photocatalyst and a Cu nanoparticle (CuNP) cocatalyst via p-doping in GaN.

Crystallographic Effects of GaN Nanostructures in Photoelectrochemical Reaction.

Tuning the surface structure of the photoelectrode provides one of the most effective ways to address the critical challenges in artificial photosynthesis, such as efficiency, stability, and product selectivity, for which gallium nitride (GaN) nanowires have shown great promise. In the GaN wurtzite crystal structure, polar, semipolar, and nonpolar planes coexist and exhibit very different structural, electronic, and chemical properties. Here, through a comprehensive study of the photoelectrochemical performance of GaN photocathodes in the form of films and nanowires with controlled surface polarities we show that significant photoelectrochemical activity can be observed when the nonpolar surfaces are exposed in the electrolyte, whereas little or no activity is measured from the GaN polar -plane surfaces.

CuS-Decorated GaN Nanowires on Silicon Photocathodes for Converting CO Mixture Gas to HCOOH.

Hybrid materials consisting of semiconductors and cocatalysts have been widely used for photoelectrochemical (PEC) conversion of CO gas to value-added chemicals such as formic acid (HCOOH). To date, however, the rational design of catalytic architecture enabling the reduction of CO gas to chemical has remained a grand challenge. Here, we report a unique photocathode consisting of CuS-decorated GaN nanowires (NWs) integrated on planar silicon (Si) for the conversion of HS-containing CO mixture gas to HCOOH.

Thermal transport characterization of carbon and silicon doped stanene nanoribbon: an equilibrium molecular dynamics study.

Equilibrium molecular dynamics simulation has been carried out for the thermal transport characterization of nanometer sized carbon and silicon doped stanene nanoribbon (STNR). The thermal conduction properties of doped stanene nanostructures are yet to be explored and hence in this study, we have investigated the impact of carbon and silicon doping concentrations as well as doping patterns namely single doping, double doping and edge doping on the thermal conductivity of nanometer sized zigzag STNR. The room temperature thermal conductivities of 15 nm × 4 nm doped zigzag STNR at 2% carbon and silicon doping concentration are computed to be 9.