Bio-template assisted hierarchical ZnO superstructures coupled with graphene quantum dots for enhanced water oxidation kinetics

Due to anisotropic growth behavior and tunable electrical properties, ZnO nanostructures having dimensions such as 0-D, 1-D, 2-D and 3-D are actively studied for their optoelectronic properties. However, ZnO based photoanodes suffer from unfavorable recombination of electron hole pair, which hinders its use in photoelectrochemical (PEC) water oxidation. Herein, we demonstrate a strategy to enhance the PEC performance using bio-template assisted in-situ grown hierarchical ZnO superstructures directly over fluorine-doped fin oxide (FTO) modified by graphene quantum dots (GQDs). GQDs decorated hierarchical ZnO superstructures displayed a significant increment of similar to 77% in photocurrent density value compared to pristine ZnO with an impressive carrier density of 3.19 x 10(20) cm(-3), which is similar to 1.8 orders of magnitude higher than that of pristine ZnO. It is observed that GQDs acts as an efficient hole extractor, which improves the carrier separation on ZnO surface and reduces the hole trapping probability.