Enhanced Photoelectrochemical Performance of the BiVO 4 /Zn:BiVO 4 Homojunction for Water Oxidation
Abstract Bismuth vanadate is a promising semiconductor for photoelectrochemical (PEC) water oxidation under visible light. Yet its PEC performance is limited by its poor electron‐transfer mobility. In this study we modified the BiVO 4 surface with Zn to address this problem. We used a ZnO coating an...
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Published in | ChemCatChem Vol. 8; no. 20; pp. 3279 - 3286 |
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Main Authors | , , , , |
Format | Journal Article |
Language | English |
Published |
20.10.2016
|
Online Access | Get full text |
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Summary: | Abstract
Bismuth vanadate is a promising semiconductor for photoelectrochemical (PEC) water oxidation under visible light. Yet its PEC performance is limited by its poor electron‐transfer mobility. In this study we modified the BiVO
4
surface with Zn to address this problem. We used a ZnO coating and etching treatment to dope Zn atoms at the surface of BiVO
4
by replacing the Bi atoms. The surface Zn doping treatment lowered the Fermi level of the outer part of BiVO
4
(surface) and formed a BiVO
4
/Zn:BiVO
4
homojunction with a type II band alignment with the inner part of BiVO
4
(bulk). With this homojunction, the charge transfer process across the depletion region of the BiVO
4
electrode was improved and the surface trapping of photogenerated electrons was avoided, which led to an enhanced PEC performance. |
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ISSN: | 1867-3880 1867-3899 |
DOI: | 10.1002/cctc.201600767 |