Eco-friendly Visible Wavelength Photodetectors Based on Colloidal Molybdenum Trioxide Nanobelt Arrays

Abstract

In an era marked by a growing emphasis on sustainability and innovation, the quest for eco-friendly solutions to energy conversion devices capable of harnessing visible light has gained paramount importance. In response to this critical demand, we demonstrate visible light-responsive photoswitching from molybdenum trioxide nanobelt arrays in the photoconductive device fabricated using solution-processing technique. We exploit the visible light-driven modulation of conductivity in the reversibly switchable photochromic state of MoO₃ to develop a photochromism-assisted photoconductive photodetector with fast response (<0.1 s), significant photocurrent on/off ratio and excellent responsivity (41 AW⁻¹ at 459 nm) under the applied bias of 5 V. The light harvesting strategy presented herein holds the potential for efficient energy generation by harnessing visible light, even under low-light conditions.