Our group develops metal-assisted chemical-etched silicon nanowires array fabricated through nano-imprint lithography method that enables the applications in thermoelectric power generator, hydrogen generation, and OH radical generation fields that were not accessible before. Silicon is abundantly available on earth and the silicon nanowire array-based thermoelectric devices through nanosize engineering and doping double the efficiency of the current ~5% thermoelectric generation efficiency, and such devices can be applied in converting waste heat into electricity. Easy-to-fabricate silicon nanowire arrays with a large surface area and high aspect ratio can generate hydrogen gas on demand by reacting with water. The mechanical stable high-quality silicon nanowire arrays are also good substrates for photocatalysts which enables OH radical generation that helps in organic dye degradation in the wastewater treatment.
Selected Publications
- "On-Demand Production of Hydrogen by Reacting Porous Silicon Nanowires with Water", R. Ning, Y. Jiang, Y. Zeng, H. Gong, J. Zhao, J. Weisse, X. Shi, T. M. Gill and X. L. Zheng, Nano Research (2020) link
- "High Thermoelectric Figure of Merit of Porous Si Nanowires From 300 to 700 K", L. Yang, D. Huh, R. Ning, V. Rapp, Y. Zeng, Y. Liu, S. Ju, Y. Tao, Y. Jiang, J. H. Beak, J. Leem, S. Kaur, H. Lee, X. L. Zheng and R. S. Prasher, Nature Communications (2021) link
Interested in this research area?
Contact Rui Ning (ruining@stanford.edu).