https://doi.org/10.1051/epjconf/202328705028
Hybrid MoS2/polymer nanoarrays for large-scale photon harvesting and enhanced molecular photo-bleaching
Dipartimento di Fisica, Università di Genova, Via Dodecaneso 33, I-16146 Genova, Italy
* Corresponding author: buatier@fisica.unige.it
Published online: 18 October 2023
Header Two-dimensional (2D) Transition Metal Dichalcogenide semiconductors (TMDs) are a promising platform in view of developing a novel generation of optoelectronics devices and renewable photon to energy conversion technologies. However new ultra-compact photon harvesting schemes are urgently required to mitigate their poor photon absorption properties. In this work we propose a novel flat-optic solution where a few layers MoS2 film is conformally deposited on a large area (cm2) nanogrooved template. The subwavelength reshaping of the TMDs film induces the excitation of photonic Rayleigh Anomalies (RA). The latter promote a strong in-plane electromagnetic confinement and can be easily tuned over a broadband spectrum by tailoring the illumination conditions. As a demonstration of the potential of this large-area surface functionalization we employed the hybrid 2D nanopatterns as a photocatalyst in a prototype photobleaching reaction of Methylene Blue (MB) molecules. We demonstrate a strong enhancement of the photochemical MB degradation, well above a factor 2, by effectively tuning the RA mode in resonance to the molecular absorption band. Therefore, these findings pave the way to flat-optics photon harvesting schemes for boosting photoconversion efficiency in large-scale hybrid 2D-TMD/polymer layers, with a strong impact in applications ranging from waste-water remediation to new-generation photonics and renewable energy storage
© The Authors, published by EDP Sciences, 2023
This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License 4.0, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
