Photoelectrochemical water splitting based on nanostructured bismuth vanadate (BiVO 4 ) can be a promising strategy to produce low-cost and green H 2 to replace fossil fuels and realize carbon neutrality. Herein, a simple chemical way to realize in situ carbon doping into BiVO 4 crystalline structure is designed and obtained carbon-doped BiVO 4 , namely C-BiVO 4 , can improve the electronic conductivity of BiVO 4 . In addition, the introduction of the synthesized carbon quantum dots (CQDs) as a co-catalyst, immobilizes CQDs onto the C-BiVO 4 nanosheet and acquires the optimized C-BiVO 4 /CQDs heterogeneous structure, which not only boosts light absorption, but also enhances the separation and transfer of the photo-generated charges. Stemming from the dual carbon actions, the as-prepared C-BiVO 4 /CQDs photoanode exhibits an excellent photocurrent density of 4.83 mA cm −2 at 1.23 V versus the RHE without the use of any hole scavengers. To assure the practical application of the sensitive photocatalyst, a polyaniline layer is electroplated onto the C-BiVO 4 /CQDs catalyst as a conducting, electroactive, and protective layer to sustain a remarkable long-term photocurrent density of 2.75 mA cm −2 for 9 hours. This work suggests that the proposed low-cost, environmentally friendly dual carbon actions can modify photocatalyst and achieve green production of H 2 .
Photoelectrochemical (PEC) water splitting has been considered
as a promising technology to produce hydrogen clean energy, and the
electrode material is one of the main reasons restricting its development.
Bismuth vanadate (BiVO4) is a promising photoanode material
for PEC water oxidation with the advantages of low cost, visible light
absorption, and suitable band edge location. Since BiVO4 was reported, tremendous efforts have been used to improve the PEC
performance, and significant achievements have been made. This minireview
first briefly introduces the theory of PEC and the basic properties
of BiVO4 and then summarizes the effects of light absorption
efficiency, charge separation efficiency, charge transfer efficiency,
and stability on the PEC performance of BiVO4-based photoanodes.
Finally, the challenges and prospects for future research on BiVO4 photoanodes are proposed for solar energy production.
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