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Updated: Mar 21, 2026
Probe Type II Band Alignment in One-Dimensional Van Der Waals Heterostructures Using First-Principles Calculations
Published on: October 12, 2019
TiO2/BiVO4 Nanowire Heterostructure Photoanodes Based on Type II Band Alignment
Joaquin Resasco1, Hao Zhang1, Nikolay Kornienko1
1Department of Chemical Engineering and Department of Chemistry, University of California , Berkeley, California 94720, United States.
Abstract:
Metal oxides that absorb visible light are attractive for use as photoanodes in photoelectrosynthetic cells. However, their performance is often limited by poor charge carrier transport. We show that this problem can be addressed by using separate materials for light absorption and carrier transport. Here, we report a Ta:TiO2|BiVO4 nanowire photoanode, in which BiVO4 acts as a visible light-absorber and Ta:TiO2 acts as a high surface area electron conductor. Electrochemical and spectroscopic measurements provide experimental evidence for the type II band alignment necessary for favorable electron transfer from BiVO4 to TiO2. The host-guest nanowire architecture presented here allows for simultaneously high light absorption and carrier collection efficiency, with an onset of anodic photocurrent near 0.2 V vs RHE, and a photocurrent density of 2.1 mA/cm(2) at 1.23 V vs RHE.
