Abstract

On-demand hydrogen generation is desired for fuel cells, energy storage, and clean energy applications. Silicon nanowires (SiNWs) and nanoparticles (SiNPs) have been reported to generate hydrogen by reacting with water, but these processes usually require external assistance, such as light, electricity or catalysts. Herein, we demonstrate that a porous SiNWs array, which is fabricated via the metal-assisted anodic etching (MAAE) method, reacts with water under ambient and dark conditions without any energy inputs. The reaction between the SiNWs and water generates hydrogen at a rate that is about ten times faster than the reported rates of other Si nanostructures. Two possible sources of enhancement are discussed: SiNWs maintain their high specific surface area as they don’t agglomerate, and the intrinsic strain of the nanowires promotes the reactivity. Moreover, the porous SiNWs array is portable, reusable, and environmentally friendly, yielding a promising route to produce hydrogen in a distributed manner.

中文翻译：

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通过使多孔硅纳米线与水反应按需生产氢

摘要

对于燃料电池，能量存储和清洁能源应用，需要按需产生氢气。据报道，硅纳米线（SiNWs）和纳米颗粒（SiNPs）通过与水反应生成氢，但是这些过程通常需要外部辅助，例如光，电或催化剂。本文中，我们证明了通过金属辅助阳极蚀刻（MAAE）方法制造的多孔SiNWs阵列在环境和黑暗条件下与水反应，没有任何能量输入。SiNW与水之间的反应以比其他Si纳米结构报道的速率快约十倍的速率产生氢。讨论了两种可能的增强方法：SiNW不聚结，因此可保持较高的比表面积；纳米线的固有应变促进了反应性。而且，多孔SiNWs阵列是便携式的，可重复使用的并且是环境友好的，从而产生了以分布式方式产生氢的有希望的途径。