GRAPHENE-SEMICONDUCTOR COMPOSITES FOR PHOTOCATALYTIC AND PHOTOELECTROCHEMICAL PRODUCTION OF FUELS

摘要

Semiconductors have been widely used as the photocatalysts for solar fuel generation. Ideal semiconductor photocatalysts are desired to have high charge separation efficiency, good charge mobility and low charge combination rate as well as strong and wide light absorption capability. So far, no single semiconductor can fulfil all the requirements to achieve 10% of solar-to-chemical energy conversion efficiency. To solve this problem, it has been proposed to couple a semiconductor with an additional material to form a composite so that the strengths of individual components in the composite can be utilized and their weakness can be compensated. Our recent studies have demonstrated the graphenesemiconductor composites for photocatalytic and photoelectrochemical production of fuels. In addition, we have explored the underlying mechanisms of graphene-enhanced charge separation and migration as well as charge carrier lifetime.