Photoelectrochemical Hydrogen Peroxide Production from Water on a WO3/BiVO4Photoanode and from O2on an Au Cathode Without External Bias.
The photoelectrochemical production and degradation properties of hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) were investigated on a WO3/BiVO4photoanode in an aqueous electrolyte of hydrogen carbonate (HCO3-). High concentrations of HCO3-species rather than CO32-species inhibited the oxidative degradation of H2O2on the WO3/BiVO4photoanode, resulting in effective oxidative H2O2generation and accumulation from water (H2O). Moreover, the Au cathode facilitated two-electron reduction of oxygen (O2), resulting in reductive H2O2production with high current efficiency. Combining the WO3/BiVO4photoanode with a HCO3-electrolyte and an Au cathode also produced a clean and promising design for a photoelectrode system specializing in H2O2production (ηanode(H2O2)≈50 %, ηcathode(H2O2)≈90 %) even without applied voltage between the photoanode and cathode under simulated solar light through a two-photon process; this achieved effective H2O2production when using an Au-supported porous BiVO4photocatalyst sheet.
Research Center for Photovoltaics (RCPV), National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST), Central 5, 1-1-1 Higashi, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, 305-8565, Japan.
Kojiro
K
Fuku
Research Center for Photovoltaics (RCPV), National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST), Central 5, 1-1-1 Higashi, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, 305-8565, Japan.|Department of Pure and Applied Chemistry, Tokyo University of Science, 2641 Yamasaki, Noda, Chiba, 278-8514, Japan.
Yuta
Y
Miyase
Research Center for Photovoltaics (RCPV), National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST), Central 5, 1-1-1 Higashi, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, 305-8565, Japan.
Yugo
Y
Miseki
Research Center for Photovoltaics (RCPV), National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST), Central 5, 1-1-1 Higashi, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, 305-8565, Japan.
Takashi
T
Funaki
Research Center for Photovoltaics (RCPV), National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST), Central 5, 1-1-1 Higashi, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, 305-8565, Japan.|Department of Pure and Applied Chemistry, Tokyo University of Science, 2641 Yamasaki, Noda, Chiba, 278-8514, Japan.
Takahiro
T
Gunji
Research Center for Photovoltaics (RCPV), National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST), Central 5, 1-1-1 Higashi, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, 305-8565, Japan.|Department of Pure and Applied Chemistry, Tokyo University of Science, 2641 Yamasaki, Noda, Chiba, 278-8514, Japan.
Kazuhiro
K
Sayama
Au cathode; WO3/BiVO4 photoanode; hydrogen carbonate; hydrogen peroxide; solar light