Morphology-Controlled ZnO@ZnWO Hetero-Nanostructures for Efficient Photooxidation of Water in Near-Neutral pH.

One-dimensional ZnO nanorods (NRs) have been extensively studied as photoanodes because of their unique optical properties, high electron mobility, and suitable band positions for water oxidation. However, their practical efficiency is often compromised by chemical instability during water oxidation and high carrier recombination rates. To overcome this issue, precise morphological control of ZnO@ZnWO core-shell structured photoanodes, featuring a ZnO core and a ZnWO shell was used. This was accomplished by depositing WO onto hydrothermally grown ZnO NRs using the thermal chemical vapor deposition process. The photoelectrochemical performance of ZnO@ZnWO with an optimized morphology outperforms that of pristine ZnO NRs. Systematic optical and electrochemical analyses of ZnO@ZnWO demonstrated that the enhancement is attributed to the enhanced charge transfer efficiency facilitated by the optimized ZnWO shells.