BiVO4 Nanostructures for Photoelectrochemical (PEC) Solar Water Splitting Applications

Abstract

We reported a simple and economical SDS (sodium dodecyl sulfate) assisted BiVO4 solvothermal synthesis of BiVO4 nanostructures. The implementation of pristine and SDS assisted BiVO4 nanostructure as photoanode in photoelectrochemical (PEC) water splitting was investigated. The good crystalline nature, defects present in the material, recombination nature and vibrational properties of the synthesized BiVO4 nanostructures have been analyzed and confirmed by XRD, Raman, PL and FTIR studies. The constructed nanoflower oriented morphology combined with nanorods for SDS assisted BiVO4 have been examined by SEM studies. The optical band gap differences were observed as 2.35 and 2.31 eV for pristine and SDS assisted BiVO4 nanostructures respectively. The higher photocurrent density of 5.8 μA/cm2 at 0.5 V versus RHE with lower flat band potential of -0.75 V revealed for SDS assisted BiVO4 nanostructured photoanodes. Good conductivity, higher charge separation efficiency and 52% photocurrent retention under illumination was reported over 7200 s for the same efficient photoanode. These results suggested the substantial possibility of BiVO4 nanostructures synthesized by using SDS surfactant could be utilized as efficient photoanodes for PEC water splitting applications.