Due to its thermal stability, conductivity, high exciton binding energy and high electron mobility, zinc oxide is one of the most studied semiconductors in the field of photocatalysis. However, the wide bandgap requires the use of UV photons to harness its potential. A convenient way to appease such a limitation is the doping of the lattice with foreign atoms which, in turn, introduce localized states (defects) within the bandgap. Such localized states make the material optically active in the visible range and reduce the energy required to initiate photo-driven charge separation events. In this work, we employed a green synthetic procedure to achieve a high level of doping and have demonstrated how the thermal treatment during synthesis is crucial to select specific the microscopic (molecular) nature of the defect and, ultimately, the type of chemistry (reduction versus oxidation) that the material is able to perform. We found that low-temperature treatments produce material with higher efficiency in the water photosplitting reaction. This constitutes a further step in the establishment of N-doped ZnO as a photocatalyst for artificial photosynthesis.

Nitrogen-Doped Zinc Oxide for Photo-Driven Molecular Hydrogen Production

Cerrato, Erik;Privitera, Alberto;Chiesa, Mario;Salvadori, Enrico
;
Paganini, Maria Cristina
2022-01-01

Abstract

Due to its thermal stability, conductivity, high exciton binding energy and high electron mobility, zinc oxide is one of the most studied semiconductors in the field of photocatalysis. However, the wide bandgap requires the use of UV photons to harness its potential. A convenient way to appease such a limitation is the doping of the lattice with foreign atoms which, in turn, introduce localized states (defects) within the bandgap. Such localized states make the material optically active in the visible range and reduce the energy required to initiate photo-driven charge separation events. In this work, we employed a green synthetic procedure to achieve a high level of doping and have demonstrated how the thermal treatment during synthesis is crucial to select specific the microscopic (molecular) nature of the defect and, ultimately, the type of chemistry (reduction versus oxidation) that the material is able to perform. We found that low-temperature treatments produce material with higher efficiency in the water photosplitting reaction. This constitutes a further step in the establishment of N-doped ZnO as a photocatalyst for artificial photosynthesis.
2022
23
9
5222
5235
EPR spectroscopy; nitrogen doping; photocatalysis; semiconductors; zinc oxide; Catalysis; Hydrogen; Nitrogen; Zinc; Zinc Oxide
Cerrato, Erik; Privitera, Alberto; Chiesa, Mario; Salvadori, Enrico; Paganini, Maria Cristina
File in questo prodotto:
File Dimensione Formato  
ijms-23-05222 (1).pdf

Accesso aperto

Tipo di file: PDF EDITORIALE
Dimensione 1.49 MB
Formato Adobe PDF
1.49 MB Adobe PDF Visualizza/Apri

I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.

Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/2318/1877127
Citazioni
  • ???jsp.display-item.citation.pmc??? 5
  • Scopus 9
  • ???jsp.display-item.citation.isi??? 9
social impact