Reduced Graphene Oxide As Protective Material On Cuprous Oxide Nanowire; The Challenges And Proposal For Improvement In Photoelectrochemical Application

In this study, the protection of Cu2O nanowire (NW) against photocorrosion using reduced graphene oxide (rGO) through annealing has proven challenging. The rGO was incapable of forming conformal passivation around Cu2O NW strands, exposing Cu2O NW to a dramatic photocorrosion. The result validated the hypothesis, which underlines the possibility of carbon decomposition from rGO into CO or CO2 gases, distorting the integrity of rGO sheets as a protective coating. Therefore, the current study proposes the carbon coating using the sputtering technique to produce a conformal coating around the NW strand, which should be the ideal protection strategy.