Improvement of BiVO₄ Photoanode Performance During Water Photo‐Oxidation Using Rh‐Doped SrTiO₃ Perovskite as a Co‐Catalyst

Abstract

In this work, a water splitting photoanode composed of a BiVO 4 thin film surface modified by the deposition of a rhodium (Rh)-doped SrTiO 3 perovskite is fabricated, and the Rh-doped SrTiO 3 outer layer exhibits special photoelectrochemical (PEC) oxygen evolution co-catalytic activity. Controlled intensity modulated photo-current spectroscopy, electrochemical impedance spectroscopy, and other electrochemical results indicate that the Rh on the perovskite provide an oxidation active site during the PEC water oxidation process by reducing the reaction energy barrier for water oxidation. Theoretical calculations indicate that the water oxidation reaction is more likely to occur on the (110) crystal plane of Rh-SrTiO 3 because the oxygen evolution reaction overpotential on the (110) crystal plane is reduced significantly. Therefore, the obtained BiVO 4 /Rh5%-SrTiO 3 photoanode exhibits an optimized PEC performance. In particular, it facilitates the saturation of the photocurrent density. Thus, the presence of doped Rh in SrTiO 3 can reduce the amount of noble metals required while achieving excellent and stable oxygen evolution properties.

Wittichenite semiconductor of Cu3BiS3 films for efficient hydrogen evolution from solar driven photoelectrochemical water splitting

“…S11 ) of the three electrodes (Pt-Cu 3 BiS 3 , Pt-CdS/Cu 3 BiS 3 , and Pt-TiO 2 /CdS/Cu 3 BiS 3 ) were performed to understand the surface/interfacial recombination or transfer of photogenerated carriers in the electrodes. Through the calculation (the detailed computational procedures are given in the Supporting Information ), the Pt-TiO 2 /CdS/Cu 3 BiS 3 photocathode exhibited a higher carrier lifetime ( τ n ) and a lower charge transfer time ( τ d ) than those of the Pt-Cu 3 BiS 3 and Pt-CdS/Cu 3 BiS 3 photocathodes, which indicated that the transfer efficiency of the photoexcited carriers was enhanced and the interfacial recombination rate was decreased with the importation of the TiO 2 /CdS overlayer 46 .…”

Manipulating the Structure and Characterization of Sr1−xLaxTiO3 Nanocubes toward the Photodegradation of 2-Naphthol under Artificial Solar Light

“…Substituting the transition metal ion into the SrTiO 3 lattice is a common and effective method to reduce the bandgap energy of the host material and hinder the recombination of the generated electron-hole, increasing the overall photoactivity [42]. To date, various strategies have been employed to enhance the photocatalytic activity of SrTiO 3 under visible light irradiation by doping with non-metal ions [43] and metal ions, such as Ag [44], Cu [45], Mn [33], Cr [46], Rh [47], La [48][49][50], and Cr-La [32,51,52], Ni-Er [53], and Ni-La [54]. Among the candidates for the modification of SrTiO 3 materials, lanthanum (La) has received much attention.…”

Theoretical Insights into the Limitation of Photocatalytic Overall Water Splitting Performance of VIA Group Elements Doped Polymeric Carbon Nitride: A Density Functional Theory Calculation Predicting Solar‐to‐Hydrogen Efficiency

“…[ 26 ] Particularly, the sluggish four electron OER process is more rate‐limiting than the two‐electron HER process. [ 27 ] Although cocatalysts such as Pt, [ 28 ] IrO 2 , [ 29 ] Rh, [ 30 ] ferrites, [ 31 ] and transition metal dichalcogenide [ 32 ] have been loaded onto the photocatalyst to promote the surface reaction activity, there still lacks understanding on the intrinsic surface activity of the photocatalytic material of its own. Understanding the intrinsic activity of a semiconducting photocatalyst (e.g., p‐C 3 N 4 ) will help us develop efficient photocatalysts without loading of the expensive, scarce, and nonrecyclable cocatalysts.…”