Floc-like CNTs jointed with BixFe1-xVO4 nanoparticles for high efficient and stable photoelectrochemical seawater splitting

Photoelectrochemical (PEC) seawater splitting is an important strategy of green industrial hydrogen pro-duction on the basis of protecting fresh water resources. In this work, a floc-like BixFe(1-x)VO(4) @CNT heteronanostructure (HNS) was fabricated as the building blocks of PEC anode and demonstrated a highly enhanced PEC efficiency and stability in seawater. In BixFe(1-x)VO(4) @CNT HNS, amorphous Fe mixed BixFe(1-x)VO(4) nanoparticles (NPs) were served for visible-light absorption, photoelectric conversion, and especially conjunct nodes of carbon nanotubes (CNTs); while CNTs were employed as the high-speed channels for carrier transfer, suppressing electron-hole recombination and leading to a highly improved PEC efficiency. As a result, the as-fabricated floc-like photoanode achieves an applicable PEC photocurrent density of 0.1 mA/cm(2) at 1.5 V versus Ag/AgCl in seawater, which demonstrates the promising potential of the floc-like BixFe(1-x)VO(4) @CNT HNS in future photoconversion applications. (C) 2021 Published by Elsevier B.V.

Automated summary

A floc-like BixFe(1-x)VO(4) @CNT heteronanostructure was fabricated as the building blocks of PEC anode, demonstrating highly enhanced efficiency and stability in seawater, showing promising potential for future photoconversion applications.