Yichong Liu

Electronic structure engineering of Cu2O film/ZnO nanorods array all-oxide p-n heterostructure for enhanced photoelectrochemical property and self-powered biosensing application.

We have engineered the electronic structure at the interface between Cu2O and ZnO nanorods (NRs) array, through adjusting the carrier concentration of Cu2O. The electrodeposition of Cu2O at pH 11 acquired the highest carrier concentration, resulting in the largest interfacial electric field between Cu2O and ZnO, which finally led to the highest separation efficiency of photogenerated charge carriers. The optimized Cu2O/ZnO NRs array p-n heterostructures exhibited enhanced PEC performance, such as elevated photocurrent and photoconversion efficiency, as well as excellent sensing performance for the sensitive detection of glutathione (GSH) in PBS buffer even at applied bias of 0 V which made the device self-powered. Besides, the favorable selectivity, high reproducibility and extremely wide detection range, make such heterostructure a promising candidate for PEC biosensing applications, probably for the extended field of PEC water splitting or other solar photovoltaic beacons.

Enhanced photoelectrochemical property of ZnO nanorods array synthesized on reduced graphene oxide for self-powered biosensing application

We have realized the direct synthesis of ZnO nanorods (ZnO NRs) array on reduced graphene layer (rGO), and demonstrated the enhanced photoelectrochemical (PEC) property of the rGO/ZnO based photoanode under UV irradiation compared with the pristine ZnO NRs array. The introduction of the rGO layer resulted in a favorable energy band structure for electron migration, which finally led to the efficient photoinduced charge separation. Such nanostructure was subsequently employed for self-powered PEC biosensing of glutathione in the condition of 0 V bias, with a linear range from 10 to 200 µM, a detection limit of 2.17 µM, as well as excellent selectivity, reproducibility and stability. The results indicated the rGO/ZnO nanostructure is a competitive candidate in the PEC biosensing field.

Self-Powered Photoelectrochemical Biosensor Based on CdS/RGO/ZnO Nanowire Array Heterostructure.

A CdS/reduced graphene oxide (RGO)/ZnO nanowire array (NWAs) heterostructure is designed, which exhibits enhanced photoelectrochemical (PEC) activity compared to pure ZnO, RGO/ZnO, and CdS/ZnO. The enhancement can be attributed to the synergistic effect of the high electron mobility of ordered 1D ZnO NWAs, extended visible-light absorption of CdS nanocrystals, and the formed type II band alignment between them. Moreover, the incorporation of RGO further promotes the charge carrier separation and transfer process due to its excellent charge collection and shuttling characteristics. Subsequently, the CdS/RGO/ZnO heterostructure is successfully utilized for the PEC bioanalysis of glutathione at 0 V (vs Ag/AgCl). The self-powered device demonstrates satisfactory sensing performance with rapid response, a wide detection range from 0.05 mm to 1 mm, an acceptable detection limit of 10 μm, as well as certain selectivity, reproducibility, and stability. Therefore, the CdS/RGO/ZnO heterostructure has opened up a promising channel for the development of PEC biosensors.

A self-powered ultraviolet photodetector based on solution-processed p-NiO/n-ZnO nanorod array heterojunction

We report fabrication of an all inorganic, self-powered and rapid-response ultraviolet (UV) photodetector using solution-processed p-NiO/ZnO-nanorod array heterojunction. The device exhibited a fast binary-response with a rise time of 0.23 s and decay time of 0.21 s. A large responsivity of 0.44 mA W−1 was achieved for a 0.4 mW cm−2 UV light irradiation at a zero-bias voltage. The self-powered performance could be attributed to the proper built-in electric field between ZnO and NiO arising from the well-aligned energy-band structure of the device, which gives rise to a photovoltaic effect.

Design of sandwich-structured ZnO/ZnS/Au photoanode for enhanced efficiency of photoelectrochemical water splitting

We developed and demonstrated a ZnO/ZnS/Au composite photoanode with significantly enhanced photoelectrochemical water-splitting performance, containing a ZnS interlayer and Au nanoparticles. The solar-to-hydrogen conversion efficiency of this ZnO/ZnS/Au heterostructure reached 0.21%, 3.5 times that of pristine ZnO. The comparison of the incident photon-to-current efficiency (IPCE) and the photoresponse in the white and visible light regions further verified that the enhancement resulted from contributions of both UV and visible light. The modification of the Au NPs was shown to improve the photoelectrochemical (PEC) performance to both UV and visible light, as modification encouraged effective surface passivation and surface-plasmonresonance effects. The ZnS interlayer favored the movement of photogenerated electrons under UV light and hot electrons under visible light, causing their injection into ZnO; this simultaneously suppressed the electron-hole recombination at the photoanode-electrolyte interface. The optimized design of the interlayer within plasmonic metal/semiconductor composite systems, as reported here, provided a facile and compatible photoelectrode configuration, enhancing the utilization efficiency of incident light for photoelectrochemical applications.

Three-dimensional ordered ZnO/Cu2O nanoheterojunctions for efficient metal-oxide solar cells.

Interface modulation for broad-band light trapping and efficient carrier collection has always been the research focus in solar cells, which provides the most effective way to achieve performance enhancement. In this work, solution-processed 3D ordered ZnO/Cu2O nanoheterojunctions, consisting of patterned n-ZnO nanorod arrays (NRAs) and p-Cu2O films, are elaborately designed and fabricated for the first time. By taking advantage of nanoheterojunctions with square patterned ZnO NRAs, solar cells demonstrate the maximum current density and efficiency of 9.89 mA cm(-2) and 1.52%, which are improved by 201% and 127%, respectively, compared to that of cells without pattern. Experimental analysis and theoretical simulation confirm that this exciting result originates from a more efficient broad-band light trapping and carrier collection of the 3D ordered ZnO/Cu2O nanoheterojunctions. Such 3D ordered nanostructures will have a great potential application for low-cost and all oxide solar energy conversion. Furthermore, the methodology applied in this work can be also generalized to rational design of other efficient nanodevices and nanosystems.

High On–Off Ratio Improvement of ZnO-Based Forming-Free Memristor by Surface Hydrogen Annealing

In this work, a high-performance, forming-free memristor based on Au/ZnO nanorods/AZO (Al-doped ZnO conductive glass) sandwich structure has been developed by rapid hydrogen annealing treatment. The Ron/Roff rate is dramatically increased from ∼10 to ∼10(4) after the surface treatment. Such an enhanced performance is attributed to the introduced oxygen vacancies layer at the top of ZnO nanorods. The device also exhibits excellent switching and retention stability. In addition, the carrier migration behavior can be well interpreted by classical trap-controlled space charge limited conduction, which verifies the forming of conductive filamentary in low resistive state. On this basis, Arrhenius activation theory is adopted to explain the drifting of oxygen vacancies, which is further confirmed by the time pertinence of resistive switching behavior under different sweep speed. This fabrication approach offers a useful approach to enhance the switching properties for next-generation memory applications.

Investigation on the broadband electromagnetic wave absorption properties and mechanism of Co3O4-nanosheets/reduced-graphene-oxide composite

A cobaltosic-oxide-nanosheets/reduced-graphene-oxide composite (CoNSs@RGO) was successfully prepared as a light-weight broadband electromagnetic wave absorber. The effects of the sample thickness and amount of composite added to paraffin samples on the absorption properties were thoroughly investigated. Due to the nanosheet-like structure of Co3O4, the surface-to-volume ratio of the wave absorption material was very high, resulting in a large enhancement in the absorption properties. The maximum refection loss of the CoNSs@RGO composite was–45.15 dB for a thickness of 3.6 mm, and the best absorption bandwidth with a reflection loss below–10 dB was 7.14 GHz with a thickness of 2.9 mm. In addition, the peaks of microwave absorption shifted towards the low frequency region with increasing thickness of the absorbing coatings. The mechanism of electromagnetic wave absorption was attributed to impedance matching of CoNSs@RGO as well as the dielectric relaxation and polarization of RGO. Compared to previously reported absorbing materials, CoNSs@RGO showed better performance as a lightweight and highly efficient absorbing material for application in the high frequency band.

Self-powered photoelectrochemical biosensing platform based on Au NPs@ZnO nanorods array

AbstractPhotoanodes, which are used in photoelectrochemical (PEC) water splitting, have been shown to be applicable in the construction of a PEC biosensing platform. This was realized by replacing water oxidization with oxidation of an appropriate test molecule. Here, we have demonstrated the feasibility of adopting photoanodes consisting of zinc oxide nanorods arrays decorated with plasmonic gold nanoparticles (Au NPs@ZnO NRs) for the self-powered PEC bioanalysis of glutathione (GSH) in phosphate-buffered saline (PBS) at an applied bias potential of 0 V vs. Ag/AgCl. This heterostructure exhibited enhanced PEC properties because of the introduction of the Au/ZnO interface. Under visible light illumination, hot electrons from surface-plasmon resonance (SPR) at the Au NP surface were injected into the adjacent ZnO and subsequently driven to the photocathode. Under ultraviolet (UV) light illumination, the photogenerated electrons in ZnO tended to transfer to the fluorine-doped tin oxide due to the step-wise energy band structure and the upward energy band bending at the ZnO/ electrolyte interface. These results indicate that plasmonic metal/semiconductor heterostructure photoanodes have great potential for self-powered PEC bioanalysis applications and extended field of other photovoltaic beacons.

Fiber-shaped asymmetric supercapacitors with ultrahigh energy density for flexible/wearable energy storage

Fiber-shaped supercapacitors (FSCs) have attracted significant interest owing to their unique advantages of small size, light weight, high flexibility, and capability of being integrated into wearable electronics and smart textiles. Their main limitation, however, is their low energy density when compared with batteries. Here a fiber-shaped asymmetric supercapacitor (FASC) with high energy density has been developed successfully using CNT@ZnO-NWs@MnO2 fibers as the positive electrode and CNT fibers as the negative electrode. Due to the high capacitances and excellent rate performances of CNT@ZnO-NWs@MnO2 fibers and CNT fibers, such an asymmetric cell exhibits superior electrochemical performances. An optimized FASC can be cycled reversibly in the voltage range of 0–1.8 V, and exhibits a maximum energy density of 13.25 μW h cm−2, which is much higher than those reported for fiber-shaped supercapacitors. Owing to the rational structure design, the all-solid-state FASCs demonstrate excellent mechanical and electrochemical stability. Over 1000 bending cycles, 96.7% of the initial capacitance can still be retained.