One-step chemical vapor deposition of MoS₂ nanosheets on SiNWs as photocathodes for efficient and stable solar-driven hydrogen production

Abstract

Silicon nanowires (SiNWs) are widely used as photocathodes because of their large electrochemically available surface-area density and inherent ability to decouple light absorption from the transport of minority carriers. In order to minimize overpotential for solar-driven hydrogen (H₂) production, a combination of an ultrathin molybdenum disulfide (MoS₂) layer with SiNWs as photocathode has attracted much attention. Herein, for the first time, this study presents the synthesis of a composite photocathode via direct growth of ultrathin MoS₂ nanosheets on SiNWs (referred to as SiNWs/MoS₂) by one-step chemical vapor deposition (CVD). Due to the high surface-area density of the arrays of SiNWs, the discontinuous MoS₂ nanosheets grown on the SiNWs achieved a much higher density of active sites. Moreover, the coating of MoS₂ on the SiNWs was found to protect the photocathode during the photoelectrochemical (PEC) reaction. A high efficiency with photocurrent j_sc of 16.5 mA cm^-2 (at 0 V vs. reversible hydrogen electrode) and an excellent stability over 48 h of PEC operation were achieved under a simulated 1 sun irradiation.