title: Light induced water oxidation on cobalt-phosphate (Co-Pi) catalyst modified semi-transparent, porous SiO2-BiVO4 electrodes.
abstract: A facile and simple procedure for the synthesis of semi-transparent and porous SiO2-BiVO4 electrodes is reported. The method involves a surfactant assisted metal-organic decomposition at 500 °C. An earth abundant oxygen evolution catalyst (OEC), cobalt phosphate (Co-Pi), has been used to modify the SiO2-BiVO4 electrode by electrodeposition (ED) and photoassisted electrodeposition (PED) methods. Modified electrodes by these two methods have been examined for light induced water oxidation and compared to the unmodified SiO2-BiVO4 electrodes by various photoelectrochemical techniques. The PED method was a more effective method of OEC preparation than the ED method as evidenced by an increased photocurrent magnitude during photocurrent-potential (I-V) characterizations. Electrode surfaces catalyzed by PED exhibited a very large cathodic shift (∼420 mV) in the onset potential for water oxidation. The chopped-light I-V measurements performed at different intervals over 24-hour extended testing under illumination and applied bias conditions show a fair photostability for PED Co-Pi modified SiO2-BiVO4.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, Colorado School Mines, Golden, CO 80401, USA. aherring@mines.edu.
authors.forename: Satyananda Kishore
authors.initials: SK
authors.lastname: Pilli
authors.forename: Todd G
authors.initials: TG
authors.lastname: Deutsch
authors.forename: Thomas E
authors.initials: TE
authors.lastname: Furtak
authors.forename: John A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Turner
authors.forename: Logan D
authors.initials: LD
authors.lastname: Brown
authors.forename: Andrew M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Herring