Nanostructured metal oxides (MO) are promising for light energy harvesting into electricity or chemical fuel such as hydrogen.  Due to their large bandgap and thereby weak visible absorption, various strategies have been developed to enhance visible light absorption, including dye or quantum dot (QD) sensitization.  In the meantime, charge transport in nanostructures is often limited due to a high density of trap states.  Rational introduction of bandgap states, e.g. oxygen vacancies through hydrogen or other treatment of MO nanostructures, can substantially improve charge transport.  Therefore, by using a two-pronged approach that combines QD sensitization for efficient charge injection and chemical treatment of MO for enhancing charge transport, we can achieve synergistic improvement in photoelectrochemical performance.  Systematic characterizations using a variety of techniques were carried out to gain insight into the underlying fundamental mechanism.  The approach developed is general and can be potentially useful for many different applications.

Two-pronged approach towards simultaneous optimization of charge transfer and transport in metal oxide nanostructures for light energy conversion

245th National Meeting (2013)

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