Surface Modification of Zinc Oxide Nanorods with Zn-Porphyrin via Metal-Ligand Coordination for Photovoltaic Applications

Abstract

We modify ZnO nanorods with Zn-porphyrin to obtain the improved characteristics of energy transfer, which is further investigated for the applicability to photovoltaic devices. A nitrogen heterocyclic ligand containing a thiol group is covalently grafted onto the surface of finely structured ZnO nanorods with a length of 50-250 nm and a diameter of 15-20 nm. Zn-porphyrin is then attached to the ligand molecules by the mechanism of metalligand axial coordination. The resulting energy band diagram suggests that the porphyrin-modified ZnO nanorods might provide an efficient pathway for energy transfer upon being applied to photovoltaic devices.

Porphyrins as Active Components for Electrochemical and Photoelectrochemical Devices

“…The latter was able to coordinatively bind the zinc atom of ZnTPP (Figure 88). 292 A positively charged dendron, covalently attached to ZnO via a cathecol moiety, was coordinated to a negatively charged tetracarboxylated porphyrin by electrostatic interaction. 273 2,3-Fullerocyclopropane-1,1-dicarboxylic acid (C 60 -acid in Figure 81), was the molecule directly linked and zinc 5-(4-carboxyphenyl)-10,15,20-tris(3,5-dimethoxylphenyl)porphyrin was coordinated to it.…”

“…289 ZnO micro-290 and nano-rods, [291][292][293][294] were also prepared by hydrothermal transformation of zinc salts in aqueous solutions and subsequent heating, the duration of which affected the rod length. An example is shown in Figure 78, where, starting from a seed layer, ZnO nanorods grown at 80°C are reported, after 2, 4 and 10 hours, respectively.…”

“…275,Supramolecular assembly of ZnTPP and 5-(4-pyridyl)-1H-1,2,4-triazole-3-thiol on ZnO surface 292. …”

Electrochemical Water Oxidation of Ultrathin Cobalt Oxide-Based Catalyst Supported onto Aligned ZnO Nanorods

“…In the last few decades, a wide range of semiconductors have been tested as photoelectrodes for the production of hydrogen fuels . Thus, various p-type semiconductors including GaAs, Si, and Cu 2 O have been used as photocathodes, whereas n-type semiconductors like TiO 2 , SnO 2 , and ZnS were adopted as photoanodes. − Among the various n-type semiconductors, zinc oxide (ZnO) has attracted more attention as photoanode for efficient electrochemical water oxidation due to its physical and electrical properties. − From recent investigations on ZnO material, it was noticed that highly porous ZnO-based nanostructures exhibited enhanced performance in energy applications compared to bulk and thin film counterparts due to the larger semiconductor–electrolyte interface area. − Thus, ZnO nanostructures have been synthesized with different morphologies including nanorods, nanosheets, nanowires, nanoparticles, and nanoporous structures using different synthetic methods and tested as photoanodes. , Among these ZnO nanostructures, vertically aligned nanorods (NRs) structures offer an excellent surface morphology for photoelectrochemical water splitting due to their lower carrier recombination loss and axial light absorption …”

Controlling ZnO/poly( N ‐vinylcarbazole) hybrid morphology via surface modification of ZnO quantum dots for optoelectronic applications

“…Also, the electronic and structure of surface modifier can effect on the device performance [16][17][18]. Several reports have been appeared in which modification of ZnO improves the charge transfer efficiency in the interface of two phases in layered or hybrid polymer-nanoparticle devices [19][20][21][22][23].…”