Abstract
Tin oxide (SnO2) nanomaterials are of great interest in many fields such as catalytic, electrochemical, and biomedical applications, due to their low cost, suitable stability characteristics, high photosensitivity, etc. In this contribution, SnO2 NPs were facilely fabricated by calcination of tin (II) oxalate in air, followed by a liquid-phase exfoliation (LPE) method. Size-selected SnO2 NPs were easily obtained using a liquid cascade centrifugation (LCC) technique. The as-obtained SnO2 NPs displayed strong absorption in the UV region (~300 nm) and exhibited narrower absorption characteristics with a decrease in NP size. The as-fabricated SnO2 NPs were, for the first time, directly deposited onto a poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET) film with a regular Ag lattice to fabricate a flexible working electrode for a photoelectrochemical (PEC)-type photodetector. The results demonstrated that the SnO2-NP-based electrode showed the strongest photoresponse signal in an alkaline electrolyte compared with those in neutral and acidic electrolytes. The maximum photocurrent density reached 14.0 μA cm−2, significantly outperforming black phosphorus nanosheets and black phosphorus analogue nanomaterials such as tin (II) sulfide nanosheets and tellurene. The as-fabricated SnO2 NPs with relatively larger size had better self-powered photoresponse performance. In addition, the as-fabricated SnO2-NP-based PEC photodetector exhibited strong cycling stability for on/off switching behavior under ambient conditions. It is anticipated that SnO2 nanostructures, as building blocks, can offer diverse availabilities for high-performance self-powered optoelectronic devices to realize a carbon-neutral or carbon-free environment.
Highlights
A variety of strategies have been proposed over the last three decades to address critical global issues such as energy shortages and the impacts of a carbon-free environment [1,2,3,4,5]
A great deal of research has focused on the rational fabrication of high-performance semiconducting nanomaterials such as two-dimensional (2D) black phosphorus (BP) and its analogues [10,11], 2D tellurene [12], 0D or 2D selenium (Se) nanomaterials [13,14], etc., for their excellent optoelectronic device performances
SnO2 nanostructures were facilely synthesized by calcination of tin (II) oxalate at 700 ◦ C in air, and a combination of liquid-phase exfoliation (LPE) and liquid cascade centrifugation (LCC) was carried out to prepare size-selected SnO2 NPs
Summary
These features of SnO2 make it a promising semiconducting material for practical application in self-powered UV photodetectors under ambient conditions, and it holds great promise in the field of renewable energy and renewable energy consumption for the achievement of carbon neutrality targets In this contribution, SnO2 nanostructures were facilely synthesized by calcination of tin (II) oxalate at 700 ◦ C in air, and a combination of liquid-phase exfoliation (LPE) and liquid cascade centrifugation (LCC) was carried out to prepare size-selected SnO2 NPs. The as-prepared SnO2 NPs had an average diameter of 92 nm, 78 nm, and 56 nm as the centrifugation speed in the LCC process was increased. Due to the facile fabrication, tunable UV absorption, excellent self-powered response and high environmental stability, it is expected that the present work can provide fundamental guidance on self-powered PEC photodetectors based on SnO2 nanostructures and inspire more research interest in next-generation devices, to achieve carbon neutrality targets
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