Improving the performance of V2O5/rGO hybrid nanocomposites for photodetector applications

Abstract Hybrid nanocomposite photodetectors are ideal systems with substantial applications as promising materials in the field of optoelectronics. In this study, the hydrothermal method was used to hybridise 2D rGO onto 1D V2O5 nanorods to form hybrid nanocomposites with excellent electrical and photoconduction properties. Five different percentages of rGO content were added to V2O5 nanorods to examine the photodetection properties. A comprehensive comparison suggested that the optimal content of rGO intercalated into V2O5 nanorods were determined by gaining maximum photoresponse . The high performance of optimised photodetectors is ascribed to various photoconductive paths, effective generation, and transport along with lower recombination of carriers in devices. For the optimised VG40 photodetectors responsivity and specific detectivity were calculated as 12.6 A/W and 5.78 × 1011 Jones respectively, for 532 nm illumination source at a bias voltage of -2 V. A closer examination found that the optimized VG40 shows photovoltaic behaviour at 0 V. The excellent device performance of the synergistic effect of rGO is due to improve current generation and transport mechanisms. These results demonstrated a suitable approach for the synthesis of a surfactant or binder-free hybrid nanocomposite for practical photodetection applications.