title: Cooperative Catalytic Effect of ZrO2and α-Fe2O3Nanoparticles on BiVO4Photoanodes for Enhanced Photoelectrochemical Water Splitting.
abstract: Photoelectrochemical water splitting with metal oxide semiconductors offers a cost-competitive alternative for the generation of solar fuels. Most of the materials studied so far suffer from poor charge-transfer kinetics at the semiconductor/liquid interface, making compulsory the use of catalytic layers to overcome the large overpotentials required for the water oxidation reaction. Herein, we report a very soft electrolytic synthesis deposition method, which allows remarkably enhanced water oxidation kinetics of BiVO4photoanodes by the sequential addition of Zr and Fe precursors. Upon a heat treatment cycle, these precursors are converted into monoclinic ZrO2and α-Fe2O3nanoparticles, which mainly act as catalysts, leading to a five-fold increase of the water oxidation photocurrent of BiVO4. This method provides a versatile platform that is easy to apply to different semiconductor materials, fully reproducible, and facile to scale-up on large area conductive substrates with attractive implications for technological deployment.
authors: Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
authors: Maged N
authors: MN
authors: Shaddad
authors: Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
authors: Mohamed A
authors: MA
authors: Ghanem
authors: Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
authors: Abdullah M
authors: AM
authors: Al-Mayouf
authors: Institute of Advanced Materials (INAM), Universitat Jaume I, 12006, Castelló, Spain.
authors: Sixto
authors: S
authors: Gimenez
authors: Institute of Advanced Materials (INAM), Universitat Jaume I, 12006, Castelló, Spain. bisquert@uji.es.|Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. bisquert@uji.es.
authors: Juan
authors: http://orcid.org/0000-0003-4987-4887
authors: J
authors: Bisquert
authors: Institute of Advanced Materials (INAM), Universitat Jaume I, 12006, Castelló, Spain. iherraiz@uji.es.
authors: Isaac
authors: I
authors: Herraiz-Cardona
mesh_terms: D001729:Bismuth / Q000737:chemistry*; D002384:Catalysis; D055664:Electrochemical Techniques; D004566:Electrodes; D005290:Ferric Compounds / Q000737:chemistry*; D053768:Metal Nanoparticles / Q000737:chemistry*; D008855:Microscopy, Electron, Scanning; D046529:Microscopy, Electron, Transmission; D055668:Photochemical Processes; D012666:Semiconductors; D014638:Vanadates / Q000737:chemistry*; D014867:Water / Q000737:chemistry*; D015040:Zirconium / Q000737:chemistry*
chemical_list: D005290:Ferric Compounds; D014867:Water; C091754:bismuth vanadium tetraoxide; C000499:ferric oxide; D014638:Vanadates; D015040:Zirconium; C028541:zirconium oxide; D001729:Bismuth
keywords: electrolytic synthesis; nanoparticles; photoanode; water oxidation kinetics; water splitting