Towards Long‐Term Photostability of Nickel Hydroxide/BiVO4 Photoanodes for Oxygen Evolution Catalysts via In Situ Catalyst Tuning. Issue 15 (12th February 2020)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Gao, Rui‐Ting; He, Dan; Wu, Lijun; Hu, Kan; Liu, Xianhu; Su, Yiguo; Wang, Lei
• Is Part Of: Angewandte Chemie international edition. Volume 59:Issue 15(2020)
• Page Start: 6213
• Page End: 6218
• Publication Date: 2020-02-12
• Subjects: bismuth vanadate -- NiOOH -- oxygen evolution -- photoelectrochemical catalysis -- plasma etching; Chemistry -- Periodicals; 540
• DOI: 10.1002/anie.201915671
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1433-7851

Abstract

Abstract: Increasing long‐term photostability of BiVO4 photoelectrode is an important issue for solar water splitting. The NiOOH oxygen evolution catalyst (OEC) has fast water oxidation kinetics compared to the FeOOH OEC. However, it generally shows a lower photoresponse and poor stability because of the more substantial interface recombination at the NiOOH/BiVO4 junction. Herein, we utilize a plasma etching approach to reduce both interface/surface recombination at NiOOH/BiVO4 and NiOOH/electrolyte junctions. Further, adding Fe 2+ into the borate buffer electrolyte alleviates the active but unstable character of etched‐NiOOH/BiVO4, leading to an outstanding oxygen evolution over 200 h. The improved charge transfer and photostability can be attributed to the active defects and a mixture of NiOOH/NiO/Ni in OEC induced by plasma etching. Metallic Ni acts as the ion source for the in situ generation of the NiFe OEC over long‐term durability. Abstract : Flex your PECs : A facile plasma etching approach was utilized to reduce both interface/surface recombination at NiOOH/BiVO4 and NiOOH/electrolyte junctions for photoelectrochemical (PEC) catalysis of water splitting. Addition of Fe 2+ into the borate buffer electrolyte alleviated the active but unstable character of etched‐NiOOH/BiVO4, leading to an outstanding photostability over 200 h.