1D alignment of ZnO@ZIF-8/67 nanorod arrays for visible-light-driven photoelectrochemical water splitting

Developing ZnO photoanodes with high light-harvesting efficiency is of great importance for building photoelectrochemical (PEC) cells. Utilization of light in visible region is always an obstacle because of the wide band gap of ZnO. We constructed a ternary hierarchical semiconductor consisting of ZIF-8/67 encapsulated ZnO nanorod arrays (ZnO-NAs) on FTO substrate that showed high efficient visible-light-driven PEC water splitting. This [email protected]/67 photoanode exhibited a photocurrent density of 0.11 mA cm−2 at 1.23 V (vs. Reversible Hydrogen Electrode), which was 9.2 times higher than that of the pristine ZnO-NAs, thanks to the fast one-dimensional electron transportation along ZnO nanorods and the intense visible-light absorption of ZIF-67. This work presents a promising pathway of fabricating MOF-based semiconductor composites for high performance water splitting and solar energy capture.