Spectral Engineering of Hybrid Biotemplated Photonic/Photocatalytic Nanoarchitectures.

ABSTRACT: Solar radiation is a cheap and abundant energy for water remediation, hydrogen generation by water splitting, and CO₂ reduction. Supported photocatalysts have to be tuned to the pollutants to be eliminated. Spectral engineering may be a handy tool to increase the efficiency or the selectivity of these. Photonic nanoarchitectures of biological origin with hierarchical organization from nanometers to centimeters are candidates for such applications. We used the blue wing surface of laboratory-reared male Polyommatus icarus butterflies in combination with atomic layer deposition (ALD) of conformal ZnO coating and octahedral Cu₂O nanoparticles (NP) to explore the possibilities of engineering the optical and catalytic properties of hybrid photonic nanoarchitectures.

SUBMITTER: Piszter G 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9782751 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature