Effect of Functionalized Benzene Derivatives as Potential Hole Scavengers for BiVO 4 and rGO-BiVO 4 Photoelectrocatalytic Hydrogen Evolution

• Published in: Molecules (Basel, Switzerland) Vol. 27; no. 22
• Main Authors: Sharifi, Tayebeh, Kovačić, Marin, Belec, Monika, Perović, Klara, Popović, Marin, Radić, Gabrijela, Žener, Boštjan, Pulitika, Anamarija, Kraljić Roković, Marijana, Lavrenčič Štangar, Urška, Lončarić Božić, Ana, Kušić, Hrvoje
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland 12.11.2022
• Subjects: BiVO4; photoelectrochemical characterization; aromatic sacrificial agents; hydrogen production
• ISSN: 1420-3049

Sustainable hydrogen production is one of the main challenges today in the transition to a green and sustainable economy. Photocatalytic hydrogen production is one of the most promising technologies, amongst which BiVO -based processes are highly attractive due to their suitable band gap for solar-driven processes. However, the performance of BiVO alone in this role is often unsatisfactory. Herein we report the improvement of BiVO performance with reduced graphene oxide (rGO) as a co-catalyst for the photoelectrochemical water splitting (PEC-WS) in the presence of simple functionalized benzene derivatives (SFBDs), i.e., phenol (PH), benzoic acid (BA), salicylic acid (SA), and 5-aminosalicylic acid (5-ASA) as potential photogenerated hole scavengers from contaminated wastewaters. Linear sweep voltammetry and chronoamperometry, along with electrochemical impedance spectroscopy were utilized to elucidate PEC-WS performance under illumination. rGO has remarkably improved the performance of BiVO in this role by decreasing photogenerated charge recombination. In addition, 5-ASA greatly improved current densities. After 120 min under LED illumination, 0.53 μmol of H was produced. The type and concentration of SFBDs can have significant and at times opposite effects on the PEC-WS performance of both BiVO and rGO-BiVO .