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 semi-conducting sulfides, namely ZnS, CdS, and Cu2-xS, into a single nanocrystal, led to a unique ternary multi-node sheath ZnS-CdS-Cu2-xS 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-xS 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.

charge separation; heteronanorods; photocatalysis; solar energy conversion; ternary systems

Anhui Normal University