A sail-shaped ZnO nanowire structure: simultaneously boosting light receiving capacity and carrier transportability

Developing a clean and high-efficiency energy source is critical for solving future energy and environmental issues. A promising approach is solar water splitting, using solar energy to dissociate water into H₂ and O₂. However, a complicated mechanism underlies the water splitting process, including light absorbance, photon-to-carrier conversion, and carrier transport/transfer. Designing a suitable photoanode that meets these requirements still is a challenge. Here we demonstrated an alternative photoanode by using a sail-shaped ZnO nanostructure. High light absorbance was achieved due to the increased surface area for the specific nanosail structure. The nanosail structure supports two types of carrier transport mechanisms that provide a direct carrier transport pathway and network, resulting in more photocurrent and conversion efficiency enhancement. This sail-shaped ZnO structure simultaneously increases light receiving capacity and carrier transport ability and shows high potential for water-splitting applications.