With the inherently high degree of complexity, nanoheterostructures composed of two or more materials joined in unique architectures may exhibit superior synergetic properties that are difficult or impossible to acquire from their individual constituents. For semiconductor nanoheterostructures, the relative band alignment of the constituents promotes effective charge separation to bring them desirable properties for photoconversion applications. Several representative works from our lab including Au-CdS [1,2], Au-ZnS core-shell nanocrystals [3,4], Au-decorated TiO₂ nanorods [5], Au-decorated ZnO nanocrystals [6], and Au@Cu₇S₄-decorated TiO₂ nanowires [7] will be introduced to demonstrate the promising potentials of semiconductor nanoheterostructures.

References

[1] Chen, W.-T.; Yang, T.-T.; Hsu, Y.-J. Chem. Mater. 2008, 20, 7204-7206.

[2] Yang, T.-T.; Chen, W.-T.; Hsu, Y.-J.; Wei, K.-H.; Lin, T.-Y.; Lin, T.-W. J. Phys. Chem. C 2010, 114, 11414-11420.

[3] Chen, W.-T.; Hsu, Y.-J. Langmuir 2010, 26, 5918-5925.

[4] Chen, W.-T.; Lin, Y.-K.; Yang, T.-T.; Pu, Y.-C.; Hsu, Y.-J. Chem. Commun. 2013, 49, 8486-8488.

[5] Pu, Y.-C.; Wang, G.; Chang, K.-D.; Ling, Y.; Lin, Y.-K.; Fitzmorris, B. C.; Liu, C.-M.; Lu, X.; Tong, Y.; Zhang, J. Z.; Hsu, Y.-J.; Li, Y. Nano Lett. 2013, 13, 3817-3823.

[6] Chiu, Y.-H.; Chang, K.-D.; Hsu, Y.-J. J. Mater. Chem. A 2018, 6, 4286-4296.

[7] Chiu, Y.-H.; Hsu, Y.-J. Nano Energy 2017, 31, 286-295.