Photoactive Nanoarchitectures for Photoelectrochemical Sensors: New Trends and Perspectives

Dear Colleagues,

I am inviting you to submit high-quality research papers on the subject of photoelectrochemical sensors. The concept of “photoelectrochemical (PEC) sensing” is relatively new, since it was first introduced less than two decades ago, but is nevertheless rapidly developing. PEC sensing employs photoactive materials on the working electrode, generating an electrical signal (photocurrent) affected by targets under light irradiation. A typical sensing system contains three indispensable components: an excitation light source system, detection system (electrolyte + working electrode + counter electrode), and signal reading device. In the entire PEC detection system, the generation of an electrical signal involves four physical and chemical processes: (i) photon absorption, (ii) charge separation (in the photoactive material), (iii) charge migration and recombination, and (iv) charge utilization by participating in a redox reaction in the solid−liquid interface. The photoelectric conversion efficiency and output signal depend on the cumulative effect of these processes. In fact, the analytes can affect one or more of the above processes, generating PEC signal variation and thus allowing quantitative analysis. Because of the different energy forms between the excitation source and detection signal, PEC sensing is potentially characterized by a higher sensitivity than conventional electrochemical and chemiluminescent methods. Ideally, the photoactive material should be prepared as a thin film on a transparent substrate and with a surface area which is as large as possible (nanotubes, nanorods, etc.). As another difference from electrochemical sensing, which often requires a signal at specific potentials, PEC sensing takes advantage of the strong redox property of electron−hole pairs, thus reducing dependence on the applied potential. Additionally, compared with spectroscopy detection technologies that usually require complex and expensive equipment, photocurrent measurement allows PEC sensing to use simpler instrumentation, lower cost, and a simpler miniaturization. All these features are the main reasons for the broad appeal of PEC sensors. This Special Issue is devoted to studies focusing on photoactive nanoarchitectures, especially in the form of thin films, used for PEC sensing.

Dr. Gian Andrea Rizzi
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Nanomaterials is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2900 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

• photoanode
• photocathode
• photocurrent
• sensor
• photo-electrochemistry