Issue 10, 2018

Non-noble-metal bismuth nanoparticle-decorated bismuth vanadate nanoarray photoanode for efficient water splitting

Abstract

Sunlight-driven photoelectrochemical (PEC) water splitting using earth-abundant semiconductor-based materials offers one promising strategy to produce attainable and sustainable carbon free energy. Herein, we demonstrate for the first time that a heterojunction nanostructure of a Bi/BiVO4 photoanode is fabricated by directly coupling semimetal Bi nanoparticles to BiVO4 nanoarrays, showing excellent water oxidation performance. The as-obtained photoanode exhibits a remarkable photocurrent density of 1.96 mA cm−2 at 1.23 V versus a reversible hydrogen electrode (vs. RHE) under AM 1.5G (100 mW cm−2) irradiation, which is approximately 2-fold higher than that of the pristine BiVO4. Based on the detailed analyses of JV, it, M–S and EIS plots, the reason for the high photocurrent density of Bi/BiVO4 can be attributed to the improved charge separation efficiency, the enhanced hole injection efficiency and the suppressed back reaction of water oxidation.

Graphical abstract: Non-noble-metal bismuth nanoparticle-decorated bismuth vanadate nanoarray photoanode for efficient water splitting

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Research Article
Submitted
16 Mot 2018
Accepted
21 Jan 2018
First published
04 Upu 2018

Mater. Chem. Front., 2018,2, 1799-1804

Non-noble-metal bismuth nanoparticle-decorated bismuth vanadate nanoarray photoanode for efficient water splitting

B. Wulan, S. Yi, S. Li, Y. Duan, J. Yan, X. Zhang and Q. Jiang, Mater. Chem. Front., 2018, 2, 1799 DOI: 10.1039/C8QM00239H

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