title: Integration of Semiconducting Sulfides for Full-Spectrum Solar Energy Absorption and Efficient Charge Separation.
abstract: The full harvest of solar energy by semiconductors requires a material that simultaneously absorbs across the whole solar spectrum and collects photogenerated electrons and holes separately. The stepwise integration of three semiconducting sulfides, namely ZnS, CdS, and Cu2-x S, into a single nanocrystal, led to a unique ternary multi-node sheath ZnS-CdS-Cu2-x S heteronanorod for full-spectrum solar energy absorption. Localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) in the nonstoichiometric copper sulfide nanostructures enables effective NIR absorption. More significantly, the construction of pn heterojunctions between Cu2-x S and CdS leads to staggered gaps, as confirmed by first-principles simulations. This band alignment causes effective electron-hole separation in the ternary system and hence enables efficient solar energy conversion.
authors.affiliation: Division of Nanomaterials & Chemistry, Hefei National Laboratory for Physical Sciences at the Microscale, Collaborative Innovation Center of Suzhou Nano Science and Technology, CAS Center for Excellence in Nanoscience, Hefei Science Center of CAS, Department of Chemistry, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, 230026, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Tao-Tao
authors.initials: TT
authors.lastname: Zhuang
authors.affiliation: Hefei National Laboratory for Physical Sciences at Microscale, iChEM (Collaborative Innovation Center of Chemistry for Energy Materials), School of Chemistry and Materials Science, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, 230026, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Yan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Division of Nanomaterials & Chemistry, Hefei National Laboratory for Physical Sciences at the Microscale, Collaborative Innovation Center of Suzhou Nano Science and Technology, CAS Center for Excellence in Nanoscience, Hefei Science Center of CAS, Department of Chemistry, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, 230026, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Yi
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Hefei National Laboratory for Physical Sciences at Microscale, iChEM (Collaborative Innovation Center of Chemistry for Energy Materials), School of Chemistry and Materials Science, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, 230026, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Yuan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.affiliation: Division of Nanomaterials & Chemistry, Hefei National Laboratory for Physical Sciences at the Microscale, Collaborative Innovation Center of Suzhou Nano Science and Technology, CAS Center for Excellence in Nanoscience, Hefei Science Center of CAS, Department of Chemistry, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, 230026, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Liang
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.affiliation: Hefei National Laboratory for Physical Sciences at Microscale, iChEM (Collaborative Innovation Center of Chemistry for Energy Materials), School of Chemistry and Materials Science, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, 230026, P.R. China. jiangj1@ustc.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Jun
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Jiang
authors.affiliation: Division of Nanomaterials & Chemistry, Hefei National Laboratory for Physical Sciences at the Microscale, Collaborative Innovation Center of Suzhou Nano Science and Technology, CAS Center for Excellence in Nanoscience, Hefei Science Center of CAS, Department of Chemistry, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, 230026, P.R. China. shyu@ustc.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Shu-Hong
authors.identifier: 0000-0003-3732-1011
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Yu
keywords: charge separation; heteronanorods; photocatalysis; solar energy conversion; ternary systems