1. Insights on the surface chemistry of BiVO4 photoelectrodes and the role of Al overlayers on its water oxidation activity
- Author
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Elsje Alessandra Quadrelli, Nunzio Russo, Simelys Hernández, Micaela Castellino, Rowshanak Irani, Fatwa F. Abdi, Peter Bogdanoff, Hilmar Guzmán, Tapish Saboo, Kristine Rodulfo Tolod, École supérieure de Chimie Physique Electronique de Lyon (CPE), Laboratoire de Chimie, Catalyse, Polymères et Procédés, R 5265 (C2P2), Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1 (UCBL), Université de Lyon-Université de Lyon-École supérieure de Chimie Physique Electronique de Lyon (CPE)-Institut de Chimie du CNRS (INC)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Department of Applied Science and Technology [Politecnico di Torino] (DISAT), Politecnico di Torino = Polytechnic of Turin (Polito), DIpartimento di Scienza dei Materiali e Ingegneria Chimica, Institute for Solar Fuels [Berlin], and Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin für Materialien und Energie GmbH (HZB)
- Subjects
surface chemistry ,[CHIM.INOR]Chemical Sciences/Inorganic chemistry ,010402 general chemistry ,water splitting ,01 natural sciences ,Catalysis ,Artificial photosynthesis ,Overlayer ,Solar fuels ,BiVO4, Al overlayer, passivation layer, photoanode, surface chemistry, water splitting, artificial photosynthesis, surface organometallic chemistry ,chemistry.chemical_compound ,[CHIM.COOR]Chemical Sciences/Coordination chemistry ,BiVO 4 ,passivation layer ,Deposition (law) ,Surface states ,Photocurrent ,010405 organic chemistry ,Chemistry ,Process Chemistry and Technology ,photoanode ,BiVO4 ,[CHIM.CATA]Chemical Sciences/Catalysis ,[CHIM.MATE]Chemical Sciences/Material chemistry ,photoelectrodes ,0104 chemical sciences ,Chemical engineering ,water oxidation ,artificial photosynthesis ,Bismuth vanadate ,Electrode ,Water splitting ,Al overlayer ,surface organometallic chemistry - Abstract
Bismuth vanadate (BiVO4) has surface states that give rise to defect levels that mediate electron-hole recombination. In order to minimize the inefficiencies, an ultrathin Al overlayer was deposited on the BiVO4electrodes. A 54 % improvement on the photocurrent density was obtained using the Al-modified BiVO4electrode, accompanied by a 15 % increase in stability over 7.5 h of continuous irradiation. Moreover, surface capacitance measurements showed that the Al overlayer was indeed passivating the surface states. We also shed light on the deposition of an Al overlayer on the surface of BiVO4, by investigating the process on model BiVO4powders. This study presents useful, previously unreported information about the surface chemistry of BiVO4based on experimental methods and gives unique insights on the characterization of the BiVO4surface. The existence of surface reactive sites on BiVO4was confirmed and quantified (1.5 reactive sites/nm2) via chemical titration
- Published
- 2020
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