Ultrathin MoSe2 nanosheet anchored CdS-ZnO functional paper chip as a highly efficient tandem Z-scheme heterojunction photoanode for scalable photoelectrochemical water splitting

Rational design of photoelectrode architectures is deemed as an effective solution to enhance efficiency of photoelectrochemical water splitting for conquering increasingly prominent environmental problems. Herein, a programmable flexible photoanode with built-in tandem Z-scheme configuration fabricated by in-situ growth of MoSe2-CdS-ZnO array with ultrathin nanosheet-interlaced-nanorod structure on the Au paper electrode, is firstly reported. By taking advantages of the interwoven nanonetwork structure, high conductivity as well as larger porosity of the as-fabricated Au paper electrode, a stable light-harvesting paper chip with fast transfer/separate mediators of the charge/carriers is thus integrated. By virtue of double internal electric fields (IEFs) and photothermal effect, the developed MoSe2-CdS-ZnO photoanode exhibits incident-photon-to-current efficiency of 52 % under 460 nm of light irradiation, and the current density reaches 2.4 mA cm-2 at 0.3 V versus normal hydrogen electrode, which is comparable with respect to current state-of-the-art type-II-scheme, surfacescheme, and cocatalyst-free photocatalysts (0.03-2.4 mA cm-2). Consequently, the paper-based photoanode achieves admirable photoelectrocatalytic hydrogen generation property (39.7 mu mol cm-2 h-1). The synergistic effect of tailorable tandem Z-scheme configuration with double IEFs and delineating of 3D cross-linked network structure of the proposed photoanode in this work may open an avenue for constructing high-performance photoelectrochemical water splitting devices.

Automated summary

The rational design of photoelectrode architectures is an effective solution for enhancing the efficiency of photoelectrochemical water splitting. In this study, a programmable flexible photoanode with a tandem Z-scheme configuration was developed, showing promising results in terms of light-harvesting and charge carrier transfer. This innovative approach may lead to the construction of high-performance photoelectrochemical water splitting devices.