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Charge separation via asymmetric illumination in photocatalytic Cu2O particles

Author

Listed:
  • Ruotian Chen

    (Chinese Academy of Sciences
    University of Chinese Academy of Sciences)

  • Shan Pang

    (Chinese Academy of Sciences)

  • Hongyu An

    (Chinese Academy of Sciences
    University of Chinese Academy of Sciences)

  • Jian Zhu

    (Chinese Academy of Sciences)

  • Sheng Ye

    (Chinese Academy of Sciences)

  • Yuying Gao

    (Chinese Academy of Sciences
    University of Chinese Academy of Sciences)

  • Fengtao Fan

    (Chinese Academy of Sciences)

  • Can Li

    (Chinese Academy of Sciences)

Abstract

Solar-driven photocatalytic reactions provide a potential route to sustainable fuels. These processes rely on the effective separation of photogenerated charges, and therefore understanding and exploring the driving force for charge separation is key to improving the photocatalytic performance. Here, using surface photovoltage microscopy, we demonstrate that the photogenerated charges can be separated effectively in a high-symmetry Cu2O photocatalyst particle by asymmetric light irradiation. The holes and electrons are transferred to the illuminated and shadow regions, respectively, of a single photocatalytic particle. Quantitative results show that the intrinsic difference between electron and hole mobilities enables a diffusion-controlled charge separation process, which is stronger than that caused by conventional built-in electric fields (40 mV versus 10 mV). Based on the findings, we assemble spatially separated redox co-catalysts on a single photocatalytic particle and, in doing so, enhance the performance for a model photocatalytic reaction by 300%. These findings highlight the driving force caused by charge mobility differences and the use of asymmetric light illumination for charge separation in photocatalysis.

Suggested Citation

  • Ruotian Chen & Shan Pang & Hongyu An & Jian Zhu & Sheng Ye & Yuying Gao & Fengtao Fan & Can Li, 2018. "Charge separation via asymmetric illumination in photocatalytic Cu2O particles," Nature Energy, Nature, vol. 3(8), pages 655-663, August.
  • Handle: RePEc:nat:natene:v:3:y:2018:i:8:d:10.1038_s41560-018-0194-0
    DOI: 10.1038/s41560-018-0194-0
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    Cited by:

    1. Xidong Zhang & Duoduo Gao & Bicheng Zhu & Bei Cheng & Jiaguo Yu & Huogen Yu, 2024. "Enhancing photocatalytic H2O2 production with Au co-catalysts through electronic structure modification," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 15(1), pages 1-11, December.
    2. Camilo A. Mesa & Michael Sachs & Ernest Pastor & Nicolas Gauriot & Alice J. Merryweather & Miguel A. Gomez-Gonzalez & Konstantin Ignatyev & Sixto Giménez & Akshay Rao & James R. Durrant & Raj Pandya, 2024. "Correlating activities and defects in (photo)electrocatalysts using in-situ multi-modal microscopic imaging," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 15(1), pages 1-12, December.
    3. Yong Liu & Mingjian Zhang & Zhuan Wang & Jiandong He & Jie Zhang & Sheng Ye & Xiuli Wang & Dongfeng Li & Heng Yin & Qianhong Zhu & Huanwang Jing & Yuxiang Weng & Feng Pan & Ruotian Chen & Can Li & Fen, 2022. "Bipolar charge collecting structure enables overall water splitting on ferroelectric photocatalysts," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 13(1), pages 1-8, December.
    4. Guangri Jia & Fusai Sun & Tao Zhou & Ying Wang & Xiaoqiang Cui & Zhengxiao Guo & Fengtao Fan & Jimmy C. Yu, 2024. "Charge redistribution of a spatially differentiated ferroelectric Bi4Ti3O12 single crystal for photocatalytic overall water splitting," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 15(1), pages 1-10, December.
    5. Yan Guo & Bowen Zhu & Chuyang Y. Tang & Qixin Zhou & Yongfa Zhu, 2024. "Photogenerated outer electric field induced electrophoresis of organic nanocrystals for effective solid-solid photocatalysis," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 15(1), pages 1-10, December.
    6. Chao Zhen & Xiangtao Chen & Ruotian Chen & Fengtao Fan & Xiaoxiang Xu & Yuyang Kang & Jingdong Guo & Lianzhou Wang & Gao Qing (Max) Lu & Kazunari Domen & Hui-Ming Cheng & Gang Liu, 2024. "Liquid metal-embraced photoactive films for artificial photosynthesis," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 15(1), pages 1-13, December.
    7. Yanbiao Shi & Jie Li & Chengliang Mao & Song Liu & Xiaobing Wang & Xiufan Liu & Shengxi Zhao & Xiao Liu & Yanqiang Huang & Lizhi Zhang, 2021. "Van Der Waals gap-rich BiOCl atomic layers realizing efficient, pure-water CO2-to-CO photocatalysis," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 12(1), pages 1-10, December.
    8. Yannan Liu & Cheng-Hao Liu & Tushar Debnath & Yong Wang & Darius Pohl & Lucas V. Besteiro & Debora Motta Meira & Shengyun Huang & Fan Yang & Bernd Rellinghaus & Mohamed Chaker & Dmytro F. Perepichka &, 2023. "Silver nanoparticle enhanced metal-organic matrix with interface-engineering for efficient photocatalytic hydrogen evolution," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 14(1), pages 1-12, December.

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