Alternative strategies in improving the photocatalytic and photoelectrochemical activities of visible light-driven BiVO<sub>4</sub>: a review

Tan, Hui Ling; Amal, Rose; Ng, Yun Hau

doi:10.1039/c7ta04441k

Cited by 378 publications

(169 citation statements)

References 180 publications

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“…[4] In this regard, the semiconducting metal oxides [5] are promising photoanode materials due to their excellent durability and relative low cost. Despite the intense development of many metal oxides (e.g., Fe 2 O 3 , [6] WO 3 , [7,8] and BiVO 4 [9] ), the identification of a suitable photoanode material remains a challenge. However, given the vast number of possible ternary and multinary metal oxides, interest in developing an ideal material remains.…”

Section: Doi: 101002/adma201801612mentioning

confidence: 99%

Spinel Structural Disorder Influences Solar‐Water‐Splitting Performance of ZnFe₂O₄ Nanorod Photoanodes

et al. 2018

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Zinc spinel ferrite, ZnFe O (ZFO), is an emerging photoanode material for photoelectrochemical (PEC) solar fuel production. However, a lack of fundamental insight into the factors limiting the photocurrent has prevented substantial advance in its performance. Herein, it is found that ZFO nanorod array photoelectrodes with varying crystallinity exhibit vastly different PEC properties. Using a sacrificial hole scavenger (H O ), spatially defined carrier generation, and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy, it is shown that ZFO with a relatively poor crystallinity but a higher spinel inversion degree (due to cation disorder) exhibits superior photogenerated charge separation efficiency and improved majority charge carrier transport compared to ZFO with higher crystallinity and a lower inversion degree. Conversely, the latter condition leads to better charge injection efficiency. Optimization of these factors, and the addition of a nickel-iron oxide cocatalyst overlayer, leads to a new benchmark solar photocurrent for ZFO of 1.0 mA cm at 1.23 V versus reversible hydrogen electrode (RHE) and 1.7 mA cm at 1.6 V versus RHE. Importantly, the observed correlation between the cation disorder and the PEC performance represents a new insight into the factors important to the PEC performance of the spinel ferrites and suggests a path to further improvement.

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Section: Doi: 101002/adma201801612mentioning

confidence: 99%

Spinel Structural Disorder Influences Solar‐Water‐Splitting Performance of ZnFe₂O₄ Nanorod Photoanodes

et al. 2018

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“…To date, cleaning up organic compounds via degradation and water splitting to produce H 2 are the two most important applications of photocatalysis and its corresponding technology, which are aimed at environmental pollutant treatment and molecular hydrogen production, respectively [2]. …”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The hybridization of Bi 6s -O 2p orbitals upshifted the valence band of monoclinic BiVO 4 to a lower potential at about +2.4 eV [2,4,5,6,7]. Nonetheless, the photocatalytic efficiency of BiVO 4 is generally low because of its poor electron transfer and slow reaction kinetics.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

New Insights into Mn1−xZnxFe2O4 via Fabricating Magnetic Photocatalyst Material BiVO4/Mn1−xZnxFe2O4

Xie

Liu

et al. 2018

Materials

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BiVO4/Mn1−xZnxFe2O4 was prepared by the impregnation roasting method. XRD (X-ray Diffractometer) tests showed that the prepared BiVO4 is monoclinic crystal, and the introduction of Mn1−xZnxFe2O4 does not change the crystal structure of BiVO4. The introduction of a soft-magnetic material, Mn1−xZnxFe2O4, was beneficial to the composite photocatalyst’s separation from the liquid solution using an extra magnet after use. UV-vis spectra analysis indicated that Mn1−xZnxFe2O4 enhanced the absorption intensity of visible light for BiVO4. EIS (electrochemical impedance spectroscopy) investigation revealed that the introduction of Mn1−xZnxFe2O4 enhanced the conductivity of BiVO4, further decreasing its electron transfer impedance. The photocatalytic efficiency of BiVO4/Mn1−xZnxFe2O4 was higher than that of pure BiVO4. In other words, Mn1−xZnxFe2O4 could enhance the photocatalytic reaction rate.

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“…2,5 As recently reviewed, the methods of improving the properties include heterojunction formation, alloying or doping, hydrogen or nitrogen annealing, nanostructuring to enhance charge collection, microstructuring for photon management, and surface coating to passivate surface defects and enhance catalysis. 3,4,[6][7][8][9] The highest performing BVO-based photoanodes reported to date have all incorporated several of these strategies in order to produce photocurrent densities in the range of approximately 2-6.7 mA cm -2 under AM 1.5 illumination, approaching the theoretical limit of 7.5 mA cm -2 for a semiconductor with 2.4 eV band gap. 2, 3 Although to produce record, or near-record, performance it is necessary to simultaneously utilize multiple performance-enhancing methods, this approach inhibits an effort to understand the underlying principles governing the performance improvement from a particular modification.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Combinatorial alloying improves bismuth vanadate photoanodes via reduced monoclinic distortion

Newhouse

Guevarra

Umehara

et al. 2018

Energy Environ. Sci.

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Improving the efficiency of solar-power oxygen evolution is both critical for development of solar fuels technologies and challenging due to the broad set of properties required of a solar fuels photoanode. Bismuth vanadate, in particular the monoclinic clinobisvanite phase, has received substantial attention and has exhibited the highest radiative efficiency among metal oxides with a band gap in the visible range. Efforts to further improve its photoelectrochemical performance have included alloying one or more metals onto the Bi and/or V sites, with progress on this frontier stymied by the difficulty in computational modelling of substitutional alloys and the high dimensionality of co-alloying composition spaces. Since substituional alloying simultaneously changes multiple materials properties, understanding the underlying cause for performance improvements is also challenging, motivating our application of combinatorial materials science techniques to map photoelectrochemical performance of 948 unique bismuth vanadate alloy compositions comprising 0 to 8% alloys of P, Ca, Mo, Eu, Gd, and W along with a variety of compositions from each pairwise combination of these elements. Upon identification of substantial improvements in the (Mo,Gd) co-alloying space, structural mapping was performed to reveal a remarkable correlation between performance and a lowered monoclinic distortion. First-principles density functional theory calculations indicate that the improvements are due to a lowered hole effective mass and hole polaron formation energy, and collectively, our results identify the monoclinic distortion as a critical parameter in the optimization and understanding of bismuth vanadate-based photoanodes. IntroductionThe production of fuels via photoelectrochemistry (PEC) has been recognized as a promising method for capturing and storing intermittent solar energy, in particular as renewable transportation fuels. 1 Regardless of the fuel to be generated, the oxygen evolution reaction at the photoanode is critical; hence development of stable, efficient, n-type semiconductors composed of earth abundant elements and producible by scalable, cost-effective methods has received increasing research attention. [2][3][4] Bismuth vanadate, BiVO4, in particular has become the oxide semiconductor serving as the platform to develop and demonstrate a toolkit of techniques for improving and understanding the fundamental properties and photoelectrochemical performance of novel oxide-based semiconductors, despite its non-optimal bandgap. 2,5 As recently reviewed, the methods of improving the properties include heterojunction formation, alloying or doping, hydrogen or nitrogen annealing, nanostructuring to enhance charge collection, microstructuring for photon management, and surface coating to passivate surface defects and enhance catalysis. 3,4,[6][7][8][9] The highest performing BVO-based photoanodes reported to date have all incorporated several of these strategies in order to produce photocurrent densities in the range of app...

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Alternative strategies in improving the photocatalytic and photoelectrochemical activities of visible light-driven BiVO₄: a review

Abstract: This review summarises the recent advances of various strategies in improving the performances of BiVO4 in photocatalytic and photoelectrochemical systems.

Cited by 378 publications

References 180 publications

Spinel Structural Disorder Influences Solar‐Water‐Splitting Performance of ZnFe₂O₄ Nanorod Photoanodes

Spinel Structural Disorder Influences Solar‐Water‐Splitting Performance of ZnFe₂O₄ Nanorod Photoanodes

New Insights into Mn1−xZnxFe2O4 via Fabricating Magnetic Photocatalyst Material BiVO4/Mn1−xZnxFe2O4

Combinatorial alloying improves bismuth vanadate photoanodes via reduced monoclinic distortion

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Alternative strategies in improving the photocatalytic and photoelectrochemical activities of visible light-driven BiVO4: a review

Abstract: This review summarises the recent advances of various strategies in improving the performances of BiVO4 in photocatalytic and photoelectrochemical systems.

Cited by 378 publications

References 180 publications

Spinel Structural Disorder Influences Solar‐Water‐Splitting Performance of ZnFe2O4 Nanorod Photoanodes

Spinel Structural Disorder Influences Solar‐Water‐Splitting Performance of ZnFe2O4 Nanorod Photoanodes

New Insights into Mn1−xZnxFe2O4 via Fabricating Magnetic Photocatalyst Material BiVO4/Mn1−xZnxFe2O4

Combinatorial alloying improves bismuth vanadate photoanodes via reduced monoclinic distortion

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Alternative strategies in improving the photocatalytic and photoelectrochemical activities of visible light-driven BiVO₄: a review

Spinel Structural Disorder Influences Solar‐Water‐Splitting Performance of ZnFe₂O₄ Nanorod Photoanodes

Spinel Structural Disorder Influences Solar‐Water‐Splitting Performance of ZnFe₂O₄ Nanorod Photoanodes