Confined growth of Co–Pi co-catalyst by organic semiconductor polymer for boosting the photoelectrochemical performance of BiVO4. (14th May 2019)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Gao, Yang; Fan, Weiqiang; Qu, Konggang; Wang, Fagen; Guan, Peng; Xu, Dongbo; Bai, Hongye; Shi, Weidong
• Is Part Of: New journal of chemistry. Volume 43:Number 21(2019)
• Page Start: 8160
• Page End: 8167
• Publication Date: 2019-05-14
• Subjects: Chemistry -- Periodicals; Chimie -- Périodiques; 540
• DOI: 10.1039/c9nj01336a
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1144-0546

Abstract

Abstract : The significant recombination of carriers and low OER kinetics depress the solar to chemical energy conversion efficiency over BiVO4 . Abstract : The significant recombination of carriers and low OER kinetics depress the solar to chemical energy conversion efficiency over BiVO4 . The introduction of a heterostructure or co-catalyst can solve the above limitations, but it is still challenging to further understand the interaction between the heterostructure and co-catalyst in an integrated system. In this work, for the first time, we developed a strategy for the confined growth of a Co–Pi co-catalyst via bonding coordination from a polydopamine (PDA) matrix, endowing the Co–Pi co-catalyst with desirable bond anchoring and dispersion on the surface of BiVO4 (Co–Pi/PDA/BiVO4 ). The photocurrent density of the 0.15-Co–Pi/PDA/BiVO4 heterostructure reached up to 2.47 mA cm −2 (1.23 V vs. RHE), which is about 7 times that of bare BiVO4 . The optimal charge injection efficiency increased from 25% to 75% (1.23 V vs. RHE), and an IPCE value of 27% (400 nm, 1.23 V vs. RHE) was achieved. Due to the proposed mechanism, the organic–inorganic synergistic model contributed to the enhancement in photoelectrochemical performance.