Preparation of Bi-Based Ternary Oxide Photoanodes BiVO4, Bi2WO6, and Bi2Mo3O12 Using Dendritic Bi Metal Electrodes.
The major limitation to investigating a variety of ternary oxides for use in solar energy conversion is the lack of synthesis methods to prepare them as high-quality electrodes. In this study, we demonstrate that Bi-based n-type ternary oxides, BiVO4, Bi2WO6, and Bi2Mo3O12, can be prepared as high-quality polycrystalline electrodes by mild chemical and thermal treatments of electrodeposited dendritic Bi films. The resulting oxide films have good coverage, adhesion, and electrical continuity, allowing for facile and accurate evaluation of these compounds for use in solar water oxidation. In particular, the BiVO4 electrode retained the porosity and nanocrystallinity of the original dendritic Bi film. This feature increased the electron-hole separation yield, making this compound more favorable for use as a photoanode in a photoelectrochemical cell.
†Department of Chemistry, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 1101 University Avenue, Madison, Wisconsin 53706, United States.
Donghyeon
D
Kang
†Department of Chemistry, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 1101 University Avenue, Madison, Wisconsin 53706, United States.
Yiseul
Y
Park
‡Department of Chemistry, Purdue University, 560 Oval Drive, West Lafayette, Indiana 47907, United States.
James C
JC
Hill
†Department of Chemistry, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 1101 University Avenue, Madison, Wisconsin 53706, United States.
Kyoung-Shin
KS
Choi
Bi2Mo3O12; Bi2WO6; BiVO4; electrodeposition; photoanode; solar water splitting