Qianpeng Zhang

Efficient Photoelectrochemical Water Splitting with Ultrathin films of Hematite on Three-Dimensional Nanophotonic Structures

Photoelectrochemical (PEC) solar water splitting represents a clean and sustainable approach for hydrogen (H2) production and substantial research are being performed to improve the conversion efficiency. Hematite (α-Fe2O3) is considered as a promising candidate for PEC water splitting due to its chemical stability, appropriate band structure, and abundance. However, PEC performance based on hematite is hindered by the short hole diffusion length that put a constraint on the active layer thickness and its light absorption capability. In this work, we have designed and fabricated novel PEC device structure with ultrathin hematite film deposited on three-dimensional nanophotonic structure. In this fashion, the nanophotonic structures can largely improve the light absorption in the ultrathin active materials. In addition, they also provide large surface area to accommodate the slow surface water oxidation process. As the result, high current density of 3.05 mA cm(-2) at 1.23 V with respect to the reversible hydrogen electrode (RHE) has been achieved on such nanophotonic structure, which is about three times of that for a planar photoelectrode. More importantly, our systematic analysis with experiments and modeling revealed that the design of high performance PEC devices needs to consider not only total optical absorption, but also the absorption profile in the active material, in addition to electrode surface area and carrier collection.

All-printable band-edge modulated ZnO nanowire photodetectors with ultra-high detectivity

High-performance photodetectors are critical for high-speed optical communication and environmental sensing, and flexible photodetectors can be used for a wide range of portable or wearable applications. Here we demonstrate the all-printable fabrication of polycrystalline nanowire-based high-performance photodetectors on flexible substrates. Systematic investigations have shown their ultra-high photoconductive gain, responsivity and detectivity up to 3.3 × 1017 Jones. Further analysis shows that their high performance originates from the unique band-edge modulation along the nanowire axial direction, where the existence of Schottky barriers in series leads to highly suppressed dark current of the device and also gives rise to fast photoelectric response to low-intensity optical signal owing to barrier height modulation. The discovered rationale in this work can be utilized as guideline to design high-performance photodetectors with other nanomaterial systems. The developed fabrication scheme opens up possibility for future flexible and high-performance integrated optoelectronic sensor circuitry.

Highly Efficient Flexible Perovskite Solar Cells with Antireflection and Self-Cleaning Nanostructures.

Flexible thin film solar cells have attracted a great deal of attention as mobile power sources and key components for building-integrated photovoltaics, due to their light weight and flexible features in addition to compatibility with low-cost roll-to-roll fabrication processes. Among many thin film materials, organometallic perovskite materials are emerging as highly promising candidates for high efficiency thin film photovoltaics; however, the performance, scalability, and reliability of the flexible perovskite solar cells still have large room to improve. Herein, we report highly efficient, flexible perovskite solar cells fabricated on ultrathin flexible glasses. In such a device structure, the flexible glass substrate is highly transparent and robust, with low thermal expansion coefficient, and perovskite thin film was deposited with a thermal evaporation method that showed large-scale uniformity. In addition, a nanocone array antireflection film was attached to the front side of the glass substrate in order to improve the optical transmittance and to achieve a water-repelling effect at the same time. It was found that the fabricated solar cells have reasonable bendability, with 96% of the initial value remaining after 200 bending cycles, and the power conversion efficiency was improved from 12.06 to 13.14% by using the antireflection film, which also demonstrated excellent superhydrophobicity.

Low‐Cost, Flexible, and Self‐Cleaning 3D Nanocone Anti‐Reflection Films for High‐Efficiency Photovoltaics

Low-cost engineered nanotemplates are used to mold flexible nanocone anti-reflection (AR) films. Both optical reflectance measurements and photovoltaics characterizations demonstrate that the flexible nanocone AR films can considerably suppress device front-side reflectance and thus improve the power conversion efficiency of high-efficiency thin-film CdTe solar cells. Additionally, these nanocone AR films are found to be superhydrophobic and thus possess self-cleaning capability.

Light Management with Nanostructures for Optoelectronic Devices

Light management is of paramount importance to improve the performance of optoelectronic devices including photodetectors, solar cells, and light-emitting diodes. Extensive studies have shown that the efficiency of these optoelectronic devices largely depends on the device structural design. In the case of solar cells, three-dimensional (3-D) nanostructures can remarkably improve device energy conversion efficiency via various light-trapping mechanisms, and a number of nanostructures were fabricated and exhibited tremendous potential for highly efficient photovoltaics. Meanwhile, these optical absorption enhancement schemes can benefit photodetectors by achieving higher quantum efficiency and photon extraction efficiency. On the other hand, low extraction efficiency of a photon from the emissive layer to outside often puts a constraint on the external quantum efficiency (EQE) of LEDs. In this regard, different designs of device configuration based on nanostructured materials such as nanoparticles and nanotextures were developed to improve the out-coupling efficiency of photons in LEDs under various frameworks such as waveguides, plasmonic theory, and so forth. In this Perspective, we aim to provide a comprehensive review of the recent progress of research on various light management nanostructures and their potency to improve performance of optoelectronic devices including photodetectors, solar cells, and LEDs.

A three-dimensional hexagonal fluorine-doped tin oxide nanocone array: a superior light harvesting electrode for high performance photoelectrochemical water splitting

Photonic nanostructures hold great promise in promoting light harvesting. Here we report the first design and construction of a three-dimensional (3D) hexagonal nanocone array of fluorine-doped tin oxide (FTO) on glass as an excellent electrode for photoelectrochemical (PEC) water splitting. The PEC current density with suitably deposited Ti-doped hematite at 1.23 V vs. the reversible hydrogen electrode (RHE) was increased by 86% to 2.24 ± 0.02 mA cm−2 compared to that with the planar counterpart, mainly ascribable to the special light harvesting effect and the electrode surface area provided by 3D FTO. Upon the embedment of a gold layer to concentrate the incident light onto the hematite layer and the deposition of the Co–Pi catalyst with a modified procedure, the photocurrent experienced a large cathodic shift of onset potential by 360 mV and soared to a high value of 3.39 ± 0.01 mA cm−2 (at 1.23 V), yielding a power conversion efficiency of 0.70% at a potential as low as 0.88 V vs. RHE.

Roll-to-roll fabrication of large scale and regular arrays of three-dimensional nanospikes for high efficiency and flexible photovoltaics

Three-dimensional (3-D) nanostructures have demonstrated enticing potency to boost performance of photovoltaic devices primarily owning to the improved photon capturing capability. Nevertheless, cost-effective and scalable fabrication of regular 3-D nanostructures with decent robustness and flexibility still remains as a challenging task. Meanwhile, establishing rational design guidelines for 3-D nanostructured solar cells with the balanced electrical and optical performance are of paramount importance and in urgent need. Herein, regular arrays of 3-D nanospikes (NSPs) were fabricated on flexible aluminum foil with a roll-to-roll compatible process. The NSPs have precisely controlled geometry and periodicity which allow systematic investigation on geometry dependent optical and electrical performance of the devices with experiments and modeling. Intriguingly, it has been discovered that the efficiency of an amorphous-Si (a-Si) photovoltaic device fabricated on NSPs can be improved by 43%, as compared to its planar counterpart, in an optimal case. Furthermore, large scale flexible NSP solar cell devices have been fabricated and demonstrated. These results not only have shed light on the design rules of high performance nanostructured solar cells, but also demonstrated a highly practical process to fabricate efficient solar panels with 3-D nanostructures, thus may have immediate impact on thin film photovoltaic industry.

3D Arrays of 1024-Pixel Image Sensors based on Lead Halide Perovskite Nanowires

Large-scale and highly ordered 3D perov-skite nanowire (NW) arrays are achieved in nanoengineering templates by a unique vapor-solid-solid reaction process. The excellent material properties, in conjunction with the high integration density of the NW arrays, make them promising for 3D integrated nanoelectronics/optoelectronics. Image sensors with 1024 pixels are assembled and characterized to demonstrate the technological potency.

Lead-Free Perovskite Nanowire Array Photodetectors with Drastically Improved Stability in Nanoengineering Templates

Organometal halide perovskite materials have triggered enormous attention for a wide range of high-performance optoelectronic devices. However, their stability and toxicity are major bottleneck challenges for practical applications. Substituting toxic heavy metal, that is, lead (Pb), with other environmentally benign elements, for example, tin (Sn), could be a potential solution to address the toxicity issue. Nevertheless, even worse stability of Sn-based perovskite material than Pb-based perovskite poses a great challenge for further device fabrication. In this work, for the first time, three-dimensional CH3NH3SnI3 perovskite nanowire arrays were fabricated in nanoengineering templates, which can address nanowire integration and stability issues at the same time. Also, nanowire photodetectors have been fabricated and characterized. Intriguingly, it was discovered that as the nanowires are embedded in mechanically and chemically robust templates, the material decay process has been dramatically slowed down by up to 840 times, as compared with a planar thin film. This significant improvement on stability can be attributed to the effective blockage of diffusion of water and oxygen molecules within the templates. These results clearly demonstrate a new and alternative strategy to address the stability issue of perovskite materials, which is the major roadblock for high-performance optoelectronics.

Efficient photon management with nanostructures for photovoltaics.

Efficient photon management schemes are crucial for improving the energy conversion efficiency of photovoltaic devices; they can lead potentially to reduced material usage and cost for these devices. In this review, photon trapping mechanisms are discussed briefly in the beginning, followed by a summary of recent progress on a number of major categories of nanostructures with intriguing photon management properties. Specifically, nanostructures including nanowires, nanopillars, nanopyramids, nanocones, nanospikes, and so forth, have been reviewed comprehensively with materials including Si, Ge, CdS, CIGS, ZnO, etc. It is found that these materials with diverse configurations have tunable photon management properties, namely, optical reflectance, transmittance and absorption. Investigations on these nanostructures have not only shed light on the fundamental interplay between photons and materials at the nanometer scale, but also suggested a potential pathway for a new generation of photovoltaic devices.