Journal
NATURE ENERGY
Volume 3, Issue 8, Pages 655-663Publisher
NATURE PUBLISHING GROUP
DOI: 10.1038/s41560-018-0194-0
Keywords
-
Funding
- National Natural Science Foundation of China [21633015, 21773228]
- National Key Basic Research Program of China (973 Program) [2014CB239403]
- Strategic Priority Research Program and Equipment Development Project of the Chinese Academy of Sciences [XDB17000000, YJKYYQ20170002]
Ask authors/readers for more resources
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.
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available