Ga(X)N/Si nanoarchitecture: An emerging semiconductor platform for sunlight-powered water splitting toward hydrogen

Abstract

Sunlight-powered water splitting presents a promising strategy for converting intermittent and virtually unlimited solar energy into energy-dense and storable green hydrogen. Since the pioneering discovery by Honda and Fujishima, considerable efforts have been made in this research area. Among various materials developed, Ga(X)N/Si (X = In, Ge, Mg, etc.) nanoarchitecture has emerged as a disruptive semiconductor platform to split water toward hydrogen by sunlight. This paper introduces the characteristics, properties, and growth/synthesis/fabrication methods of Ga(X)N/Si nanoarchitecture, primarily focusing on explaining the suitability as an ideal platform for sunlight-powered water splitting toward green hydrogen fuel. In addition, it exclusively summarizes the recent progress and development of Ga(X)N/Si nanoarchitecture for photocatalytic and photoelectrochemical water splitting. Moreover, it describes the challenges and prospects of artificial photosynthesis integrated device and system using Ga(X)N/Si nanoarchitectures for solar water splitting toward hydrogen.

Graphical abstract

Keywords

Ga(X)N/Si nanoarchitecture / artificial photosynthesis / water splitting / solar toward hydrogen

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 22109095), the Shanghai Pilot Program for Basic Research—Shanghai Jiao Tong University (21TQ1400211), the Oceanic Interdisciplinary Program of Shanghai Jiao Tong University (SL2022MS007), and the Natural Science and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) Discovery Grant Program.

Competing interests:

The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

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