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Simultaneous enhancements in photon absorption and charge transport of bismuth vanadate photoanodes for solar water splitting

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  • Tae Woo Kim

    (University of Wisconsin-Madison)

  • Yuan Ping

    (University of California
    Present address: Joint Center for Artificial Photosynthesis, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, California 94720, USA; California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California 91125, USA.)

  • Giulia A. Galli

    (Institute for Molecular Engineering, University of Chicago)

  • Kyoung-Shin Choi

    (University of Wisconsin-Madison)

Abstract

n-Type bismuth vanadate has been identified as one of the most promising photoanodes for use in a water-splitting photoelectrochemical cell. The major limitation of BiVO4 is its relatively wide bandgap (∼2.5 eV), which fundamentally limits its solar-to-hydrogen conversion efficiency. Here we show that annealing nanoporous bismuth vanadate electrodes at 350 °C under nitrogen flow can result in nitrogen doping and generation of oxygen vacancies. This gentle nitrogen treatment not only effectively reduces the bandgap by ∼0.2 eV but also increases the majority carrier density and mobility, enhancing electron–hole separation. The effect of nitrogen incorporation and oxygen vacancies on the electronic band structure and charge transport of bismuth vanadate are systematically elucidated by ab initio calculations. Owing to simultaneous enhancements in photon absorption and charge transport, the applied bias photon-to-current efficiency of nitrogen-treated BiVO4 for solar water splitting exceeds 2%, a record for a single oxide photon absorber, to the best of our knowledge.

Suggested Citation

  • Tae Woo Kim & Yuan Ping & Giulia A. Galli & Kyoung-Shin Choi, 2015. "Simultaneous enhancements in photon absorption and charge transport of bismuth vanadate photoanodes for solar water splitting," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 6(1), pages 1-10, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:natcom:v:6:y:2015:i:1:d:10.1038_ncomms9769
    DOI: 10.1038/ncomms9769
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    Cited by:

    1. André Månberger, 2021. "Reduced Use of Fossil Fuels can Reduce Supply of Critical Resources," Biophysical Economics and Resource Quality, Springer, vol. 6(2), pages 1-15, June.
    2. Hao Wu & Lei Zhang & Aijun Du & Rowshanak Irani & Roel Krol & Fatwa F. Abdi & Yun Hau Ng, 2022. "Low-bias photoelectrochemical water splitting via mediating trap states and small polaron hopping," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 13(1), pages 1-12, December.
    3. Guo-Qiang Liu & Yuan Yang & Yi Li & Taotao Zhuang & Xu-Feng Li & Joshua Wicks & Jie Tian & Min-Rui Gao & Jin-Lan Peng & Huan-Xin Ju & Liang Wu & Yun-Xiang Pan & Lu-An Shi & Haiming Zhu & Junfa Zhu & S, 2021. "Boosting photoelectrochemical efficiency by near-infrared-active lattice-matched morphological heterojunctions," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 12(1), pages 1-9, December.

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