Engineering Copper(I) Oxide Nanowire Architectures with Zinc Oxide Shells for Efficient photoelectrochemical water splitting
Magazov Y. Taubaldiyeva Z. Zhangaliyev Y. Manarbek S. Zhigerbayeva G. Kudryashov V. Nuraje N.
30 December 2025Engineered Science Publisher
ES Materials and Manufacturing
2025#30
Cuprous oxide is a promising photocathode for solar hydrogen production, but its planar form is limited by short chargecarrier diffusion length. To overcome these challenges, we grew Cu2O as nanowire arrays and added a ZnO overlayer, creating a robust three-dimensional Cu2O/ZnO heterostructure. We developed a straightforward method to electrodeposit Cu2O nanowires on a copper-seeded transparent electrode, followed by spin-coating ZnO seed layers and hydrothermal growth of ZnO nanowires around the Cu2O. This Cu2O/ZnO architecture dramatically improved photoelectrochemical performance. Under simulated sunlight, Cu2O nanowires delivered more than three times the photocurrent of a planar Cu2O film (1.3 vs 0.4 mA/cm2 at 0 V vs RHE). Adding the ZnO shell further raised the photocurrent to 1.75 mA/cm2 and shielded the Cu2O, facilitating charge separation at the p–n junction. The nanowire morphology provides a higher surface area and shorter charge transport pathways, which together boost light absorption and suppress recombination. These results highlight an effective, scalable strategy to improve Cu2O-based photocathodes, demonstrating how nanostructuring and heterojunction layers can yield more efficient and stable devices for solar fuel generation.
Cu2O , Electrodeposition , Morphological engineering , p-n heterojunction , Photoelectrochemical water splitting
Text of the article Перейти на текст статьи
Renewable Energy Lab, National Laboratory Astana, Astana, 010000, Kazakhstan
Department of Chemical and Materials Engineering, Nazarbayev University, Astana, 010000, Kazakhstan
Nano Science and Engineering Department, Yonsei University, Seoul, 03722, South Korea
Teqnovate LLC, Astana, 010000, Kazakhstan
Renewable Energy Lab
Department of Chemical and Materials Engineering
Nano Science and Engineering Department
Teqnovate LLC
10 лет помогаем публиковать статьи Международный издатель
Книга Публикация научной статьи Волощук 2026 Book Publication of a scientific article 2026