Photoelectrochemistry: a tool for the study of charge transfer at interfaces with carbon nanostructured materials

Abstract

Photoelectrochemistry of nanomaterials is commonly employed in fields related to energy and environmental applications, such as water splitting, solar cells or water remediation. It is a valuable technique for the direct evaluation of the performance for the desired application. In addition, it can be used for the study of intrinsic electronic properties of nanostructured of a great variety of semiconductor materials, such as conductive polymers or metal oxide nanoparticles. It is also a highly valuable implement to assess charge and/or energy transfer phenomena between the mentioned semiconductors and carbon nanomaterials (GO, CNTs), unveiling their role as charge acceptors/donors, blockers/transporters, sensitizers/conditioners, or even as electroactive materials for themselves, thus allowing the tuning of optoelectronic properties of composite materials. This versatility makes photoelectrochemistry a key tool in the field of carbon nanoscience and nanotechnology [1-4].