Piezopotential augmented photo-and photoelectro-catalysis with a built-in electric field

Rapid technological development and population growth are responsible for a series of imminent environmental problems and an ineluctable energy crisis.The application of semiconductor nanomaterials in photocatalysis or photoelectrocatalysis(PEC)for either the degradation of contaminants in the environment or the generation of hydrogen as clean fuel is an effective approach to alleviate these problems.However,the efficiency of such processes remains suboptimal for real applications.Reasonable construction of a built-in electric field is considered to efficiently enhance carrier separation and reduce carrier recombination to improve catalytic performance.In the past decade,as a new method to enhance the built-in electric field,the piezoelectric effect from piezoelectric materials has been extensively studied.In this review,we provide an overview of the properties of piezoelectric materials and the mechanisms of piezoelectricity and ferroelectricity for a built-in electric field.Then,piezoelectric and ferroelectric polarization regulated built-in electric fields that mediate catalysis are discussed.Furthermore,the applications of piezoelectric semiconductor materials are also highlighted,including degradation of pollutants,bacteria disinfection,water splitting for H2 generation,and organic synthesis.We conclude by discussing the challenges in the field and the exciting opportunities to further improve piezo-catalytic efficiency.

Piezotronic and piezo-phototronic effects on sonodynamic disease therapy

With the development of engineered nanomaterials and nanomedicines,uti-lization of nanomaterials to generate excessive reactive oxygen species underexogenous ultrasound(US)irradiation for realizing disease therapy,namelysonodynamic therapy(SDT),has attracted widespread attention.Comparedwith traditional photodynamic therapy,US shows deeper tissue penetration toreach deep-seated location.However,the development of high-efficiencysonosensitizers remains one of the gravest challenges in current relatedresearch and future clinical application.Latterly,benefiting from the piezo-tronic and piezo-phototronic effects,novel sonosensitizers based on piezo-electric semiconductor(PS)nanomaterials have exhibited inspiring applicationprospects in SDT.In this review,we outline the structures and physico-chemical properties of PS nanomaterials that has potential applications inSDT,and introduce the presumed mechanisms of PS nanomaterials in SDT.Then,the latest research progress of PS nanomaterials as sonosensitizers incancer therapy and antibacterial applications are summarized.Finally,theexisting challenges and future development trends in this field are prospected.

Enhanced NO_2 gas sensing of a single-layer MoS_2 by photogating and piezo-phototronic effects

NO_2 sensors with ultrahigh sensitivity are demanded for future electronic sensing systems. However,traditional sensors are considerably limited by the relative low sensitivity, high cost and complicated process. Here, we report a simply and reliable flexible NO_2 sensor based on single-layer MoS_2. The flexible sensor exhibits high sensitivity to NO_2 gas due to ultra-large specific surface area and the nature of two-dimensional(2 D) semiconductor. When the NO_2 is 400 ppb(parts per billion), compared with the dark and strain-free conditions, the sensitivity of the single-layer sensor is enhanced to 671% with a625 nm red light-emitting diode(LED) illumination of 4 mW/cm^2 power under 0.67% tensile strain.More important, the response time is dramatically reduced to $16 s and it only needs $65 s to complete90% recovery. A theoretical model is proposed to discuss the microscopic mechanisms. We find that the remarkable sensing characteristics are the result of coupling among piezoelectricity, photoelectricity and adsorption-desorption induced charges transfer in the single-layer MoS_2 Schottky junction based device.Our work opens up the way to further enhancements in the sensitivity of gas sensor based on single-layer MoS_2 by introducing photogating and piezo-phototronic effects in mesoscopic systems.

Strain-modulation and service behavior of Au-MgO-ZnO ultraviolet photodetector by piezo-phototronic effect

Au-MgO-ZnO （AMZ） ultraviolet （UV） photodetectors were fabricated to enhance their sensitivities by an inserting ultrathin insulating MgO layer. With the insulating layer, the sensitivities of the UV photodetectors were improved via the reduction of the dark current. Furthermore, strain modulation was used to enhance the sensitivities of the AMZ UV photodetectors. The sensitivities of the photodetectors were enhanced by the piezo-phototronic effect. However, there was a limiting value of the applied strains to enhance the sensitivity of the photodetector. When the external strains exceeded the limiting value, the sensitivity decreased because of the tunneling dark current. The external strains loaded on the photodetectors result in the degradation of the photodetectors, and an applied bias can accelerate the process. This work presents a prospective approach to engineer the performance of a UV photodetector. In addition, the study on the service behavior of the photodetectors may offer a strain range and theoretical support for safely using and studying metal-insulator-semiconductor （MIS） UV photodetectors.

Fabry-Perot interference and piezo-phototronic effect enhanced flexible MoS_(2) photodetector

Flexible photodetectors(PDs)are indispensable components for next-generation wearable electronics.Recently,two-dimensional(2D)materials have been implemented as functional flexible optoelectronic devices due to their characteristics of atomically thin layers,excellent flexibility,and strain sensitivity.In this work,we developed a flexible photodetector based on MoS_(2)/NiO heterojunction,and Fabry-Perot(F-P)and piezo-phototronic effect have been employed to enhance the responsivity(R)and external quantum efficiency(EQE)of the devices.The F-P effect is utilized to improve the optical absorption of the MoS_(2),resulting in an enhancement in the photoluminescence(PL)of monolayer MoS_(2) and the EQE of the photodetector by 30 and 130 times,respectively.The flexible photodetector exhibits an ultrahigh detectivity(D*)of 2.6×10^(14) Jones,which is the highest value ever reported for flexible MoS_(2) PDs.The piezo-potential of monolayer MoS_(2) decreases the valence band offset at the interface of MoS_(2)/NiO,which increases the transfer efficiency of the photon-generated carriers significantly.Under 1.17%tensile strain,the R of the flexible photodetector can be enhanced by 271%.This research may provide a universal strategy for the design and performance optimization of 2D materials heterostructures for flexible optoelectronics.

Piezo-phototronic and pyro-phototronic effects to enhance Cu（In, Ga）Se2 thin film solar cells

Cu（In, Ga）Se2 （CIGS）-based materials have gained remarkable attention for thin-film photovoltaic applications due to their high absorption coefficient, tunable bandgap, compositional tolerance, outstanding stabilities, and high efficiency. A small increase in the efficiency of CIGS solar cells has huge economic impact and practical importance. As such, we fabricated a flexible CIGS solar cell on a mica substrate and demonstrated the enhanced device performance through the piezo- and pyro-phototronic effects based on a ZnO thin film. The device showed enhanced energy conversion efficiency from 13.48% to 14.23% by decreasing the temperature from 31 to 2℃ at a rate of - 0.6℃·s^-1 via the pyro-phototronic effect, and further enhanced from 14.23% to 14.37% via the piezo-phototronic effect by further applying a static compressive strain. A pyro-electric nanogenerator effect was also found to promote the performance of the CIGS solar cell at the beginning of the cooling process. The manipulated energy band of the CIGS/CdS/ZnO heterojunction under the influence of the inner pyroelectric and piezoelectric potentials is believed to contribute to these phenomena. Applying the piezo- and pyro-phototronic effects simultaneously offers a new opportunity for enhancing the output performance of commercial thin film solar cells.

Controlling the luminescence of monolayer MoS2 based on the piezoelectric effect

We report on manipulating the stimulated emission of monolayer molybdenum disulfide （MoS2） with the piezoelectric effect. The analysis is based on quantum mechanics. The stimulated emission of this two-dimensional material has been simulated to establish the relation between the total emission rate and the energy of the photon excitation. We demonstrate that the piezoelectric-induced charges enhance the emission rate by changing the carrier concentration. It is found that the emission intensity is proportional to the carrier density in the low-density range, and eventually reaches a steady value in the high-density region. An externally applied mechanical force also leads to a change in the second harmonic generation of the monolayer MoS2.

Flexible,stretchable,and transparent InGaN/GaN multiple quantum wells/polyacrylamide hydrogel-based light emitting diodes

Visualization is a direct,efficient,and simple interface method to realize the interaction between human and machine,whereas the flexible display unit,as the major bottleneck,still deeply hinders the advances of wearable and virtual reality devices.To obtain flexible optoelectronic devices,one of the effective methods is to transfer a high-efficient and long-lifetime inorganic optoelectronic film from its rigid epitaxial substrate to a foreign flexible/soft substrate.Additionally,piezo-phototronic effect is a fundamental theory for guiding the design of flexible optoelectronic devices.Herein,we demonstrate a flexible,stretchable,and transparent InGaN/GaN multiple quantum wells(MQWs)/polyacrylamide(PAAM)hydrogel-based light emitting diode coupling with the piezo-phototronic effect.The quantum well energy band and integrated luminous intensity(increased by more than 31.3%)are significantly modulated by external mechanical stimuli in the device.Benefiting from the small Young's modulus of hydrogel and weak Van der Waals force,the composite film can endure an extreme tensile condition of about 21.1%stretching with negligible tensile strains transmitted to the InGaN/GaN MQWs.And the stable photoluminescence characteristics can be observed.Moreover,the hydrogen-bond adsorption and excellent transparency of the hydrogel substrate greatly facilitate the packaging and luminescence of the optoelectronic device.And thus,such a novel integration scheme of inorganic semiconductor materials and organic hydrogel materials would help to guide the robust stretchable optoelectronic devices,and show great potential in emerging wearable devices and virtual reality applications.