W ion implantation boosting visible-light photoelectrochemical water splitting over ZnO nanorod arrays

W ions were doped into ZnO nanorod arrays hydrothermally grown on the F-doped tin-oxide-coated glass substrates via an advanced ion implantation technique for photoelectrochemical (PEC) water splitting under visible light. It was found that W incorporation could narrow the bandgap of ZnO and shift the optical absorption into visible light regions obviously, with the one-dimensional nanorod structure maintained for superior charge transfer. As a result, the W-doped ZnO nanorod arrays exhibit considerable PEC performance relative to ZnO nanorod arrays under visible light illumination (λ>420 nm), with photocurrent density achieved up to 15.2 μA/cm2 at 1.0 V (versus Ag/AgCl). The obtained PEC properties indicate that ion implantation can be an alternative approach to develop unique materials for efficient solar energy conversion.