Ying-Ya Hsu

Plasmon inducing effects for enhanced photoelectrochemical water splitting: X-ray absorption approach to electronic structures.

Artificial photosynthesis using semiconductors has been investigated for more than three decades for the purpose of transferring solar energy into chemical fuels. Numerous studies have revealed that the introduction of plasmonic materials into photochemical reaction can substantially enhance the photo response to the solar splitting of water. Until recently, few systematic studies have provided clear evidence concerning how plasmon excitation and which factor dominates the solar splitting of water in photovoltaic devices. This work demonstrates the effects of plasmons upon an Au nanostructure-ZnO nanorods array as a photoanode. Several strategies have been successfully adopted to reveal the mutually independent contributions of various plasmonic effects under solar irradiation. These have clarified that the coupling of hot electrons that are formed by plasmons and the electromagnetic field can effectively increase the probability of a photochemical reaction in the splitting of water. These findings support a new approach to investigating localized plasmon-induced effects and charge separation in photoelectrochemical processes, and solar water splitting was used herein as platform to explore mechanisms of enhancement of surface plasmon resonance.

Hierarchical Ni-Mo-S nanosheets on carbon fiber cloth: A flexible electrode for efficient hydrogen generation in neutral electrolyte

A flexible cloth-like electrode, which can efficiently split water to produce H2 at neutral pH, is successfully demonstrated. A unique functional electrode made of hierarchal Ni-Mo-S nanosheets with abundant exposed edges anchored on conductive and flexible carbon fiber cloth, referred to as Ni-Mo-S/C, has been developed through a facile biomolecule-assisted hydrothermal method. The incorporation of Ni atoms in Mo-S plays a crucial role in tuning its intrinsic catalytic property by creating substantial defect sites as well as modifying the morphology of Ni-Mo-S network at atomic scale, resulting in an impressive enhancement in the catalytic activity. The Ni-Mo-S/C electrode exhibits a large cathodic current and a low onset potential for hydrogen evolution reaction in neutral electrolyte (pH ~7), for example, current density of 10 mA/cm2 at a very small overpotential of 200 mV. Furthermore, the Ni-Mo-S/C electrode has excellent electrocatalytic stability over an extended period, much better than those of MoS2/C and Pt plate electrodes. Scanning and transmission electron microscopy, Raman spectroscopy, x-ray diffraction, x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and x-ray absorption spectroscopy were used to understand the formation process and electrocatalytic properties of Ni-Mo-S/C. The intuitive comparison test was designed to reveal the superior gas-evolving profile of Ni-Mo-S/C over that of MoS2/C, and a laboratory-scale hydrogen generator was further assembled to demonstrate its potential application in practical appliances.

Reversible adapting layer produces robust single-crystal electrocatalyst for oxygen evolution

Electrochemically converting water into oxygen/hydrogen gas is ideal for high-density renewable energy storage in which robust electrocatalysts for efficient oxygen evolution play crucial roles. To date, however, electrocatalysts with long-term stability have remained elusive. Here we report that single-crystal Co3O4 nanocube underlay with a thin CoO layer results in a high-performance and high-stability electrocatalyst in oxygen evolution reaction. An in situ X-ray diffraction method is developed to observe a strong correlation between the initialization of the oxygen evolution and the formation of active metal oxyhydroxide phase. The lattice of skin layer adapts to the structure of the active phase, which enables a reversible facile structural change that facilitates the chemical reactions without breaking the scaffold of the electrocatalysts. The single-crystal nanocube electrode exhibits stable, continuous oxygen evolution for >1,000 h. This robust stability is attributed to the complementary nature of defect-free single-crystal electrocatalyst and the reversible adapting layer.

Heterojunction of Zinc Blende/Wurtzite in Zn1-xCdxS Solid Solution for Efficient Solar Hydrogen Generation: X-ray Absorption/Diffraction Approaches.

In the past decade, inorganic semiconductors have been successfully demonstrated as light absorbers in efficient solar water splitting to generate chemical fuels. Pseudobinary semiconductors Zn1-xCdxS (0≤x≤1) have exhibited a superior photocatalytic reactivity of H2 production from splitting of water by artificial solar irradiation without any metal catalysts. However, most studies had revealed that the extremely high efficiency with an optimal content of Zn1-xCdxS solid solution was determined as a result of elevating the conduction band minimum (CBM) and the width of bandgap. In addition to corresponding band structure and bandgap, the local crystal structure should be taken into account as well to determine its photocatalytic performance. Herein, we demonstrated the correlations between the photocatalytic activity and structural properties that were first studied through synchrotron X-ray diffraction and X-ray absorption spectroscopy. The crystal structure transformed from zinc blende to coexisted phases of major zinc blende and minor wurtzite phases at a critical point. The heterojunction formed by coexistence of zinc blende and wurtzite phases in the Zn1-xCdxS solid solution can significantly improve the separation and migration of photoinduced electron-hole pairs. Besides, X-ray absorption spectra and UV-vis spectra revealed that the bandgap of the Zn0.45Cd0.55S sample extended into the region of visible light because of the incorporation of Cd element in the sample. These results provided a significant progress toward the realization of the photoelectrochemical mechanism in heterojunction between zinc blende and wurtzite phases, which can effectively separate the charge-carriers and further suppress their recombination to enhance the photocatalytic reactivity.

Modulation of Crystal Surface and Lattice by Doping: Achieving Ultrafast Metal-Ion Insertion in Anatase TiO2

We report that an ultrafast kinetics of reversible metal-ion insertion can be realized in anatase titanium dioxide (TiO2). Niobium ions (Nb5+) were carefully chosen to dope and drive anatase TiO2 into very thin nanosheets standing perpendicularly onto transparent conductive electrode (TCE) and simultaneously construct TiO2 with an ion-conducting surface together with expanded ion diffusion channels, which enabled ultrafast metal ions to diffuse across the electrolyte/solid interface and into the bulk of TiO2. To demonstrate the superior metal-ion insertion rate, the electrochromic features induced by ion intercalation were examined, which exhibited the best color switching speed of 4.82 s for coloration and 0.91 s for bleaching among all reported nanosized TiO2 devices. When performed as the anode for the secondary battery, the modified TiO2 was capable to deliver a highly reversible capacity of 61.2 mAh/g at an ultrahigh specific current rate of 60 C (10.2 A/g). This fast metal-ion insertion behavior was systematically investigated by the well-controlled electrochemical approaches, which quantitatively revealed both the enhanced surface kinetics and bulk ion diffusion rate. Our study could provide a facile methodology to modulate the ion diffusion kinetics for metal oxides.

Structural distortion and electronic states of Rb doped WO3 by X-ray absorption spectroscopy

Rubidium tungsten bronzes (RbxWO3) have recently attracted much attention due to their intriguing phenomena, such as complex structural phase transitions, strong electron–phonon coupling, and superconducting properties. This study investigates the local atomic and electronic structures of RbxWO3 (0.17 ≤ x ≤ 0.33). X-ray powder diffraction patterns showed a hexagonal tungsten bronze (HTB) phase. X-ray absorption spectra (XAS) at the W L3-edge and Rb K-edge of RbxWO3 were carried out. The XAS analysis indicated a local distorted WO6 octahedron which leads to a splitting of eg and t2g energy states in the tungsten 5d orbital and this splitting of energy levels exhibited an asymmetrical behavior at x = 0.23 and 0.27. Overall analysis revealed a distortion of local atomic structure of the WO6 octahedra by rubidium doping, leading to the modification of the electronic structures of eg and t2g states in the tungsten 5d orbital, thereby accounting for the property changes in CDW formation and superconducting transition temperature of these materials.