Dual modification with Ag and FeOOH significantly increased the photoelectrochemical water splitting activity of BiVO4 photoanodes

Although BiVO4 is known as a promising material for photoelectrochemical water splitting, its further application is hampered by severe recombination of electrons-holes and poor surface water oxidation kinetics. Herein, a FeOOH/Ag/BiVO4 photoanode was constructed, where Ag could greatly enhance the light absorption efficiency and charge separation efficiency, while FeOOH could effectively expedite the water oxidation kinetics. In addition to their respective roles, a strong electronic interaction between Ag and FeOOH could further accelerate the oxygen evolution reaction kinetics. Consequently, the water oxidation photocurrent of this photoanode material achieves 3.19 mA cm(-2) (1.23 V versus RHE), which is about 3.22 times higher than BiVO4, and shows a notable increase from 0.23% to 1.0% for the applied bias photo-to-current efficiency. In summary, our work provides a deep insight into the modification of photoanode with both noble metal and oxygen evolution catalyst to improve the photoelectrochemical performance.

Automated summary

The utilization of a FeOOH/Ag/BiVO4 photoanode successfully enhanced the water oxidation photocurrent and applied bias photo-to-current efficiency, providing new insights into improving the photoelectrochemical performance.