Phosphorus nitride nano-dots as a versatile and metal-free support for efficient photoelectrochemical water oxidation.

Phosphorus nitride dots (PNDs) are employed as a metal-free and versatile support over a range of metal oxide-based photoanodes for efficient photoelectrochemical (PEC) water oxidation. PNDs have the ability to form various heterojunctions by virtue of their favorable band positions for enhanced charge separation leading to improved photocurrent densities.

Tuning the Electronic Structure of Monoclinic Tungsten Oxide Nanoblocks by Indium Doping for Boosted Photoelectrochemical Performance.

Photoelectrochemical (PEC) water oxidation, a desirable strategy to meet future energy demands, has several bottle-necks to resolve. One of the prominent issues is the availability of charge carriers at the surface reaction site to promote water oxidation. Of the several approaches, metal dopants to enhance the carrier density of the semiconductors, is an important one.

Effect of surface overlayer in enhancing the photoelectrochemical water oxidation of in situ grown one-dimensional spinel zinc ferrite nanorods directly onto the substrate.

Overlayer passivation minimizes surface defects and arrests the back transfer of electrons for an enhanced charge extraction. Surface passivation of ZnFe2O4 using alumina yields enhanced charge carrier density from 8.43 × 1020 cm-3 to 18.

Understanding the role of silica nanospheres with their light scattering and energy barrier properties in enhancing the photovoltaic performance of ZnO based solar cells.

The present study discusses the design and development of a dye sensitized solar cell (DSSC) using a hybrid composite of ZnO nanoparticles (ZnO NP) and silica nanospheres (SiO NS). A ≈22% enhancement in the overall power conversion efficiency (PCE, η) was observed for the device fabricated with a binary hybrid composite of 1 wt% SiO NS and ZnO NP compared to the pristine ZnO NP device. A systematic investigation revealed the dual function of the silica nanospheres in enhancing the device efficacy compared to the bare ZnO NP based device.