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. 2018 Sep 19;5(9):180728.
doi: 10.1098/rsos.180728. eCollection 2018 Sep.

Preparation of nanoporous BiVO4/TiO2/Ti film through electrodeposition for photoelectrochemical water splitting

Dong Hongxing  1 , Liu Qiuping  2 , He Yuehui  3
Affiliations

Preparation of nanoporous BiVO4/TiO2/Ti film through electrodeposition for photoelectrochemical water splitting

Dong Hongxing et al. R Soc Open Sci. .

Abstract

A nanoporous BiVO4/TiO2/Ti film was successfully fabricated by electrodepositing a nanoporous BiOI film on nanoporous TiO2 arrays followed by annealing at 450°C for 2 h. The electrodeposition of BiOI film was carried out at different times (10, 30, 100, 500 and 1000 s) in Bi(NO3)3 and KI solution. The morphological, crystallographic and photoelectrochemical properties of the prepared BiVO4/TiO2/Ti heterojunction film were examined by using different characterization techniques. UV-vis spectrum absorption studies confirmed an increase in absorption intensities with increasing electrodeposition time, and the band gap of BiVO4/TiO2/Ti film is lower than that of TiO2/Ti. The photocatalytic efficiency of BiVO4/TiO2/Ti heterojunction film was higher compared to that of the TiO2/Ti film owing to the longer transient decay time for BiVO4/TiO2/Ti film (3.2 s) than that of TiO2/Ti film (0.95 s) in our experiment. The BiVO4/TiO2/Ti heterojunction film prepared by electrodeposition for 1000 s followed by annealing showed a high photocurrent density of 0.3363 mA cm-2 at 0.6 V versus saturated calomel electrode. Furthermore, the lowest charge transfer resistance from electrochemical impedance spectroscopy was recorded for the BiVO4/TiO2/Ti film (1000 s) under irradiation.

Keywords: BiVO4/TiO2/Ti photoelectrodes; electrodeposition; photocurrent density; water splitting.

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Conflict of interest statement

There are no conflicts to declare.

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
XRD patterns: (a) TiO2/Ti before sintering and BiOI/TiO2/Ti with 1000 s electrodeposition time; (b) sintered nanoporous TiO2/Ti film and BiVO4/TiO2/Ti heterojunction films prepared with different electrodeposition times.
Figure 2.
Figure 2.
SEM images of photoelectrodes prepared with different electrodeposition times: (a) surface image of electrode with 10 s electrodeposition time; inset picture is the cross-section morphology prepared by mechanical fracturing; (b) surface image of electrode with 30 s electrodeposition time; (c) surface image of electrode with 100 s electrodeposition time; (d) surface image of electrode with 500 s electrodeposition time; (e) surface image of electrode with 1000 s electrodeposition time; (f) cross-section of sample (e) with mechanical fracturing.
Figure 3.
Figure 3.
(a) UV–vis absorption spectra and (b) Tauc plot of nanoporous TiO2/Ti film and BiVO4/TiO2/Ti heterojunction films prepared with different electrodeposition times.
Figure 4.
Figure 4.
LSV plots of nanoporous TiO2/Ti film and nanoporous BiVO4/TiO2/Ti films prepared with different electrodeposition times in 0.2 M Na2SO4 solution under 150 W Xe lamp illumination.
Figure 5.
Figure 5.
(a) Transient photocurrent responses of TiO2/Ti film and BiVO4/TiO2/Ti heterojunction film prepared with different electrodeposition times under 150 W Xe lamp illumination in 0.2 M Na2SO4 solution at 0.6 V versus SCE. (b) Transient decay times of TiO2/Ti film and BiVO4/TiO2/Ti heterojunction film.
Figure 6.
Figure 6.
(a) EIS spectra of TiO2/Ti film and BiVO4/TiO2/Ti heterojunction film prepared with different electrodeposition times under 150 W Xe lamp illumination in 0.2 M Na2SO4 solution at 0.6 V versus SCE. (b) Equivalent circuit for photoanodes.
Figure 7.
Figure 7.
Schematic of energy bands and charge transfers at BiVO4/TiO2/Ti film.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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