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Doping-Induced Amorphization, Vacancy, and Gradient Energy Band in SnS2 Nanosheet Arrays for Improved
Linxing Meng1, Siyu Wang2, Fengren Cao1
1School of Physical Science and Technology, Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Thin Films, Center for Energy Conversion Materials & Physics (CECMP), Soochow University, Suzhou, 215006, P. R. China.
Abstract:
Photoelectrochemical (PEC) water splitting is a promising strategy to convert solar energy into hydrogen fuel. However, the poor bulk charge-separation ability and slow surface oxygen evolution reaction (OER) dynamics of photoelectrodes impede the performance. We construct In- and Zn/In-doped SnS2 nanosheet arrays through a hydrothermal method. The doping induces the simultaneous formation of an amorphous layer, S vacancies, and a gradient energy band. This leads to elevated carrier concentrations, an increased number of surface-reaction sites, accelerated surface-OER kinetics, and an enhanced bulk-carrier separation efficiency with a decreased recombination rate. This efficient doping strategy allows to manipulate the morphology, crystallinity, and band structure of photoelectrodes for an improved PEC performance.
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