Electrospun Semiconductor-Based Nano-Heterostructures for Photocatalytic Energy Conversion and Environmental Remediation:Opportunities and Challenges

Harvesting solar energy to drive the semiconductor photocatalysis offers a promising tactic to address ever-growing challenges of both energy shortage and environmental pollution.Design and synthesis of nano-heterostructure photocatalysts with controllable components and morphologies are the key factors for achieving highly efficient photocatalytic processes.Onedimensional(1D)semiconductor nanofibers produced by electrospinning possess a large ratio of length to diameter,high ratio of surface to volume,small grain sizes,and high porosity,which are ideally suited for photocatalytic reactions from the viewpoint of structure advantage.After the secondary treatment of these nanofibers through the solvothermal,gas reduction,in situ doping,or assembly methods,the multi-component nanofibers with hierarchical nano-heterostructures can be obtained to further enhance their light absorption and charge carrier separation during the photocatalytic processes.In recent years,the electrospun semiconductorbased nano-heterostructures have become a“hot topic”in the fields of photocatalytic energy conversion and environmental remediation.This review article summarizes the recent progress in electrospinning synthesis of various kinds of high-performance semiconductor-based nano-heterostructure photocatalysts for H2 production,CO_(2) reduction,and decomposition of pollutants.The future perspectives of these materials are also discussed.

A contrivance of 277 nm DUV LD with B0.313Ga0.687N/B0.40Ga0.60N QWs and AlxGa1–xN heterojunction grown on AlN substrate

In this paper,an ultraviolet C-band laser diode lasing at 277 nm composed of B0.313Ga0.687N/B0.40Ga0.60N QW/QB heterostructure on Mg and Si-doped AlxGa1-xN layers was designed,as well as a lowest reported substitutional accepter and donor concentration up to NA=5.0×10^17 cm^-3 and ND=9.0×10^16 cm^-3 for deep ultraviolet lasing was achieved.The structure was assumed to be grown over bulk AIN substrate and operate under a continuous wave at room temperature.Although there is an emphasizing of the suitability for using boron nitride wide band gap in the deep ultraviolet region,there is still a shortage of investigation about the ternary BGaN in aluminum-rich AIGaN alloys.Based on the simulation,an average local gain in quantum wells of 1946 cm^-1,the maximum emitted power of 2.4 W,the threshold current of 500 mA,a slope efficiency of 1.91 W/A as well as an average DC resistance for the V-I curve of(0.336Ω)had been observed.Along with an investigation regarding different EBL,designs were included with tapered and inverse tapered structure.Therefore,it had been found a good agreement with the published results for tapered EBL design,with an overweighting for a proposed inverse tapered EBL design.

Persistent spin current in a quantum wire with weak Dresselhaus spin-orbit coupling

The spin current in a parabolically confined semiconductor hcterojunction quantum wire with Drcsselhaus spinorbit coupling is theoretically studied by using the perturbation method. The formulae of the elements for linear and angular spin current densities are derived by using the recent definition for spin current based on spin continuity equation. It is found that the spin current in this Dresselhaus spin-orbit coupling quantum wire is antisymmetrical, which is different from that in Rashba model due to the difference in symmetry between these two models. Some numerical examples for the result are also demonstrated and discussed.

Ta_(3)N_(5)–LaTaON_(2) heterojunction with matched interfaces to accelerate charge separation for efficient photocatalytic water oxidation

Charge separation is generally considered as the most critical step to achieve efficient photocatalytic reactions. Although charge separation can be promoted by a semiconductor heterojunction, its efficacy is inherently restrained by the mismatched atomic arrangements across the heterojunction interfaces. Here, Ta3N5–LaTaON2 heterojunction with matched interfaces has been fabricated by one-step ammonolysis treatment of KLaTa2O7. The match interfaces are formed by nearly perfect adhesion of Ta3N5 (010) and LaTaON2 (101¯) facets whose interatomic distance is similar. Compared with conventional heterojunction, the so-formed Ta3N5–LaTaON2 heterojunction are extremely efficient in accelerating charge separation which in turn enables a high photocatalytic activity. An apparent quantum efficiency as high as 11.6% at 420 ± 20 nm has been reached by Ta_(3)N_(5)–LaTaON_(2) heterojunction, which is almost three times higher than Ta_(3)N_(5)-LaTaON_(2) mixtures. These results signify the importance of matched heterojunction interfaces for charge separation and provide a paradigm in the design of efficient heterojunction-based semiconductor photocatalysts.

Structural, Optical and Electrical Properties of Li-doped ZnO Thin Films Influenced by Annealing Temperature

Li-doped ZnO thin films had been grown by radio frequency magnetron sputtering and then annealed under various annealing temperatures. The characteristics of ZnO films were examined by XRD, FESEM, Hall measurement and optical transmission spectra. Results showed that p type conduction was observed in Li doped ZnO films annealed at 500-600 ℃ and thep type ZnO films possessed a good crystalline with c-axis orientation, dense surface, and average transmission of about 85% in visible spectral region.

Ferroelectric polarization reversal tuned by magnetic field in a ferroelectric BiFeO3/Nb-doped SrTiO3 heterojunction

Interracial resistive switching of a ferroelectric semiconductor heterojunction is highly advantageous for the newly developed ferroelectric memristors. Moreover, the interfacial state in the ferroelectric semiconductor heterojunction can be gradually modified by polarization reversal, which may give rise to continuously tunable resistive switching behavior. In this work, the interfacial state of a ferroelectric BiFeO3/Nb-doped SrTiO3 junction was modulated by ferroelectric polarization reversal. The dynamics of surface screening charges on the BiFeO3 layer was also investigated by surface potential measure- ments, and the decay of the surface potential could be speeded up by the magnetic field. Moreover, ferroelectric polarization reversal of the BiFeO3 layer was tuned by the magnetic field. This finding could provide a method to enhance the ferroelectric and electrical properties of ferroelectric BiFeO3 films by tuning the magnetic field.

Fabrication of porous graphitic carbon nitride-titanium dioxide heterojunctions with enhanced photo-energy conversion activity

Porous graphite-phase polymeric carbon nitride（GPPCN）/TiO2 donor-acceptor heterojunction was facilely fabricated through the combination of a template technique with a co-calcination process,which exhibited much higher photoelectric activity compared to pristine carbon nitride and TiO2.The precursor of porous GPPCN（pGPPCN）,porous melem,was prepared by using a green template,calcium carbonate,which could be easily removed by diluted hydrochloride.The pGPPCN/TiO2 heterojunction was then obtained by the assembly and subsequent co-calcination of TiO2 nanoparticles with porous melem.The formation of pGPPCN/TiO2 donor-acceptor heterojunction prepared by this method showed improved surface area and light absorption.Moreover,the composite presented much higher photo-energy conversion activity than those of GPPCN,pGPPCN and TiO2,which could be mainly ascribed to the high charge carrier separation efficiency.This study provides a new approach for the design and development of various photocatalysts with high efficiency for applications in energy fields.