title: Micro- and nanostructures of photoelectrodes for solar-driven water splitting.
abstract: Artificial photosynthesis of clean fuels has aroused great interest to meet the great demand for clean and renewable energy. Great advances have recently been made in various photoelectrodes with their efficiencies and stabilities significantly improved by the design and implementation of novel structures, which are determinative for the optical absorption, charge-transport path, surface area, and electronic conductivity. This Research News article discusses perspectives of the synthetic methods and micro- and nanostructures (planar structures, 1D structures, and mesoporous structures) of photoelectrodes, and their relationships with the photo-electrochemical performance. Structural features, such as particle size, crystallinity, morphology, and film thickness, as well as the trade-offs among them are also evaluated and discussed for each category of structure.
authors.affiliation: State Key Lab of Metal Matrix Composites, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, 200240, PR China.
authors.forename: Peng
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Lian
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Gao
authors.forename: Xuefeng
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Song
authors.forename: Jing
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Sun
keywords: microstructures; nanostructures; photoelectrodes; water splitting