Recent developments in photoelectrochemical water-splitting using WO 3 /BiVO 4 heterojunction photoanode: A review

作者：Basanth S. Kalanoor, Hyungtak Seo, Shankara Sharanappa Kalanur · 发表于：Materials Science for Energy Technologies · 年份：2018 · DOI：10.1016/j.mset.2018.03.004 · 被引用次数：113 · 研究领域：Advanced Photocatalysis Techniques、Copper-based nanomaterials and applications、Gas Sensing Nanomaterials and Sensors

Pairing tungsten oxide (WO 3 ) and bismuth vanadate (BiVO 4 ) to form heterojunction photoanode is a very promising strategy to attain the enhanced photoelectrochemical (PEC) water splitting efficiency. In fact, the PEC efficiency of WO 3 /BiVO 4 heterojunction photoanode performs significantly better than either of the individual materials due to their well-matched band edge positions, efficient charge separation, and light harvesting abilities. In WO 3 /BiVO 4 heterojunction, BiVO 4 serves as an excellent visible-light absorber (∼30% sunlight) and WO 3 functions as an active electron conductor. Therefore, the optimization of the ratio and structure of WO 3 and BiVO 4 becomes very crucial to produce maximum PEC efficiency. In this review, the significant efforts and remarkable milestones achieved using WO 3 /BiVO 4 heterojunction photoanode in PEC water splitting is summarized. The various factors that influence the PEC activity of WO 3 /BiVO 4 heterojunction include the nanostructure morphology, charge carrier’s dynamics, layers of WO 3 and BiVO 4 , use of catalysts and doping, etc. With WO 3 /BiVO 4 heterojunction photoanode, outstanding PEC performance equal to the theoretical efficiency values (WO 3 and BiVO 4 ) has been achieved. The highest photocurrent value of about 6.72 mA cm −2 (at 1.23 V vs. reversible hydrogen electrode (RHE)) with an incident photon to current efficiency of 90% (at 1.23 V vs. RHE) has been reached. Finally, the future research work direction for...