In the field of environmental remediation and sustainability, the built-in electric field of ferroelectrics has been regarded as a promising strategy to enhance photocatalytic (PC) dye degradation and photoelectrochemical (PEC) water splitting. Here, we report on Ce-doped BaTiO 3 (BT) nanoassemblies prepared by a hydrothermal route. X-ray diffraction reveals the phase transformation from tetragonal to cubic on the sintering temperature and Ce doping. From X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), the oxygen vacancies are found to be maximum for 4 mol % of Ce concentration. The ferroelectric and piezoelectric measurements disclose a higher remnant polarization (1.76 μC cm −2 ) and d 33 coefficient (15 pCN −1 ) at 4 mol % due to the built-in electric field. Thus, we observed a significantly improved PC dye degradation with the rate constant (k) of 0.0139 m −1 (methylene blue), 0.0147 m −1 (methyl violet) at 4 mol %, and 0.0117 m −1 (congo red) at 6 mol %. PEC water splitting showed that the photoanode fabricated at 4 mol % of Ce exhibits enriched photocurrent density (1.45 mA cm −2 ), impressive early onset of water oxidation (−0.504 V), and hydrogen gas evolution (22.50 μmol h −1 cm −2 ). Poling studies display a significant enhancement in both PC and PEC properties indicating the built-in electric field assisted activities of Ce-doped BT nanoassemblies. The underlying mechanisms behind the degradation efficiency and improved photocurrent density are established via the built-in electric field facilitating charge carrier detachment and transport as evidenced by the photoluminescence decay and XPS valence band spectra.
We have fabricated an efficient Bi2WO6-Ag plasmonic hybrid via the photoreduction technique and the obtained materials were well characterized with sophisticated instruments.
Herein, a facile microwave route to synthesized of Tin (Sn) and Zirconium (Zr) doped BiVO4 with enhanced photocatalytic and photoelectrochemical performance are demonstrated. X‐ray diffraction (XRD) studies confirmed the monoclinic‐tetragonal structure of metal doped BiVO4. Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscopy (FE‐SEM) images confirmed the sphere like morphology while bare is in floral structure. The Raman (RS) and Fourier Transform Infra‐Red (FT‐IR) Spectroscopy indicate the functional group of composition. Photoluminance (PL) spectroscopy revealed that the doped BiVO4 showed better excitation then the bare BiVO4. The UV‐Visible diffused reflectance (UV‐vis‐DRS) spectroscopy exposed improved visible light driven by narrow band gap of metal doped BiVO4. Further Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) and Linear Sweep voltammetry characterization (LSV) report that the metal doped BiVO4 established better photoelectrochemical activity in water splitting. The impact of metal doping in the crystallinity, optical properties, electrical properties and photocatalytic activity were evaluated using model pollutant of azo dyes and gaseous acetaldehyde under visible light irradiation. The Zr doped BiVO4 exhibit better performance for degradation of dyes, acetaldehyde decomposition and water splitting properties then the Sn doped BiVO4 and bare BiVO4. This work founds that the metal doping with semiconductor is effective in creating heterostructured nanomaterials, which result in reduce the recombination processes, leading to improved photocatalytic and photoelectrochemical performance.
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