Long‐Lived, Visible‐Light‐Excited Charge Carriers of TiO2/BiVO4 Nanocomposites and their Unexpected Photoactivity for Water Splitting. Issue 5 (8th November 2013)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Xie, Mingzheng; Fu, Xuedong; Jing, Liqiang; Luan, Peng; Feng, Yujie; Fu, Honggang
• Is Part Of: Advanced energy materials. Volume 4:Issue 5(2014:May)
• Page Start: n/a
• Page End: n/a
• Publication Date: 2013-11-08
• Subjects: Energy harvesting -- Materials -- Periodicals; Energy conversion -- Materials -- Periodicals; Energy storage -- Materials -- Periodicals; Photovoltaics -- Periodicals; Fuel cells -- Periodicals; Thermoelectric materials -- Periodicals; 621.31
• DOI: 10.1002/aenm.201300995
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1614-6832

Abstract

<abstract abstract-type="main" xml:lang="en"> <title> <x xml:space="preserve">Abstract</x> </title> <p>Different mole ratios of TiO₂/BiVO₄ nanocomposites with effective contacts have are fabricated by putting BiVO₄ nanoparticles into the TiO₂ sol, followed by thermal treatment at 450 °C. Based on the transient‐state surface photovoltage responses and the atmosphere‐controlled steady‐state surface photovoltage spectra, it is concluded that the photogenerated charge carriers in the TiO₂/BiVO₄ nanocomposite with a proper mole ratio (5%) display much longer lifetime and higher separation than those in the BiVO₄ alone. This is responsible for the unexpected activity for photoelectrochemical oxidation of water, for photocatalytic production of H₂, and for photocatalytic degradation of phenol as a model pollutant under visible irradiation. Moreover, it is suggested that the prolonged lifetime and increased separation of photogenerated charges in the fabricated TiO₂/BiVO₄ nanocomposite is attributed to the unusual spatial transfer of visible‐excited high‐energy electrons of BiVO₄ to TiO₂. This work will provide feasible routes to synthesize visible‐light responsive nanomaterials for efficient solar utilization.</p> </abstract>