Bismuth Vanadate-Based Photoelectrodes for Photoelectrochemical Water Splitting: Synthesis and Characterisation

Abstract:

The main aim of this study was to electrochemically synthesize and characterise bismuth vanadate (BiVO₄) photoelectrodes for photoelectrochemical (PEC) water splitting. The influence of annealing temperature on the nanostructured semiconductor BiVO₄ thin film structure was studied systematically. This was followed by advanced characterisation of the BiVO₄ photoelectrodes by using field emission-scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM), Raman spectroscopy, photoluminescence and PEC properties measurements. When the electrochemically synthesized BiVO₄ thin films were subjected to different annealing temperatures, phase transitions occurred for tetragonal BiVO₄ at 300 °C and monoclinic BiVO₄ at 400 °C. Through this study, it was found that the annealing treatment at 400 °C resulted in the highest photocurrent density (i.e. photoactivity) of 1.23 mA/cm² at 0.6 V vs. Ag/AgCl. Finally, the BiVO₄/CuO heterojunction photoelectrode was also fabricated in order to further enhance its photoactivity under visible light irradiation.

• Periodical: Advances in Science and Technology (Volume 99)
• Pages: 9-16
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.4028/www.scientific.net/AST.99.9
• Online since: October 2016
• Authors: Chong Siang Yaw, Meng Nan Chong*, Ai Kah Soh
• Keywords: Bismuth Vanadate, Cupric Oxide, Electrodeposition, Schottky p-n Junction, Solar Fuel

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