Sn:In2O3 and Sn:In2O3/NiS2 Core-Shell Nanowires on Ni, Mo Foils and C Fibers for H2 and O2 Generation
Date
2017Source
Journal of Physical Chemistry CVolume
121Pages
27839-27848Google Scholar check
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Sn:In2O3 nanowires have been grown by the vapor liquid solid mechanism on Si, Ni, Mo, and C fibers. These were used to obtain Sn:In2O3/NiS2 core-shell nanowires by the deposition of 10 nm Ni over the Sn:In2O3 nanowires followed by post growth processing under H2S between 100 and 200 °C. The Sn:In2O3/NiS2 nanowires have diameters of ≈100 nm and lengths up to ≈100 μm and consist of cubic bixbyite Sn:In2O3 surrounded by 3 nm NiS2 crystalline quantum dots with a cubic crystal structure. Higher temperatures of 300-500 °C result in the formation of NiS2 quantum dots and cubic In3S4 branches around the Sn:In2O3. We find that the p-type NiS2 in contact with n-type Sn:In2O3 NWs gives rectifying current-voltage (IV) characteristics due to the formation of a p-n heterojunction with a straddling type band alignment where electrons are confined to the n-type Sn:In2O3 core and holes in the p-type NiS2, as shown by self-consistent Poisson-Schrödinger calculations in the effective mass approximation. The gas evolution of O2 and H2 was measured using the Sn:In2O3/NiS2 nanowires as the anode and Pt as the cathode in a two-compartment photoelectrochemical cell containing 1 M KOH (aq) and 0.5 M H2SO4 (aq), respectively, under light of 1 sun. We obtain 7.8 μL/min of O2 and 15.0 μL/min of H2 at an overpotential of 0.2 V and 25 °C from the Sn:In2O3/NiS2 nanowires on C. These are ≈35% larger than those obtained from plain Sn:In2O3 nanowires attributed to the existence of the p-n junction. © 2017 American Chemical Society.