Hierarchical carbon-silicon nanowire heterostructures for the hydrogen evolution reaction

Silicon nanowires (SiNWs) opened up exciting possibilities in a variety of research fields due to their unique anisotropic morphologies, facile tuning capabilities, and accessible fabrication methods. The SiNW-based photoelectrochemical (PEC) conversion has recently been known to provide an efficien...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Nanoscale 2018-08, Vol.10 (29), p.13936-13941
Main Authors: Moon, Joonhee, Sim, Uk, Kim, Dong Jin, Ahn, Hyo-Yong, An, Junghyun, Ha, Heonjin, Choi, Kyoung Soon, Jeon, Cheolho, Lee, Jouhahn, Nam, Ki Tae, Hong, Byung Hee
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Carbon
Catalysis
Catalysts
Chemical vapor deposition
Corrosion
Energy conversion
Energy storage
Heterostructures
Hydrogen evolution reactions
Hydrogen production
Hydrogen storage
Morphology
Nanowires
Organic chemistry
Oxidation
Silicon
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Summary:Silicon nanowires (SiNWs) opened up exciting possibilities in a variety of research fields due to their unique anisotropic morphologies, facile tuning capabilities, and accessible fabrication methods. The SiNW-based photoelectrochemical (PEC) conversion has recently been known to provide an efficiency superior to that of various photo-responsive semiconductor heterostructures. However, a challenge still remains in designing optimum structures to minimize photo-oxidation and photo-corrosion of the Si surface in a liquid electrolyte. Here, we report a simple method to synthesize hierarchically branched carbon nanowires (CNWs) on SiNWs utilizing copper vapor as the catalyst in a chemical vapor deposition (CVD) process, which exhibits outstanding photocatalytic activities for hydrogen generation along with excellent chemical stability against oxidation and corrosion. Thus, we believe that the CNW-SiNW photoelectrodes would provide a new route to developing high-performing cost-effective catalysts essential for advanced energy conversion and storage technologies.
ISSN:2040-3364
2040-3372
DOI:10.1039/c8nr02262c