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Controlling the BiOI-to-BiVO4 Transformation for High-Performance Photoanodes and Monolithic BiVO4-Cu2ZnSnS4 Tandem
Zhibin Xie1, Muhammad Abbas1, Jasim Yousaf1
1Institute of Thin Film Physics and Applications, Shenzhen Key Laboratory of Advanced Thin Films and Applications, Key Laboratory of Optoelectronic Devices and Systems of Ministry of Education and Guangdong Province, State Key Laboratory of Intelligent Construction and Healthy Operation and Maintenance of Deep Underground Engineering, College of Physics and Optoelectronic Engineering, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen 518060, China.
Engineered bismuth vanadate photoanodes enhance solar-to-hydrogen production. This optimized material boosts efficiency for direct solar energy conversion through improved charge separation and kinetics.
Area of Science:
- Materials Science
- Electrochemistry
- Renewable Energy
Background:
- Photoelectrochemical (PEC) water splitting offers direct solar-to-hydrogen (STH) conversion.
- Bismuth vanadate (BiVO4) is a promising photoanode material due to its suitable bandgap, but suffers from poor charge carrier dynamics.
- Efficient PEC systems require optimized photoanodes for enhanced charge separation and kinetics.
Purpose of the Study:
- To engineer an optimized BiVO4 photoanode for improved PEC water splitting efficiency.
- To investigate the effect of electrodeposition pathway control on BiVO4 film morphology and performance.
- To construct and evaluate a tandem PEC device using the optimized BiVO4 photoanode.
Main Methods:
- Controlled electrodeposition of BiOI precursor to form uniform BiVO4 films.
- Annealing treatment to yield compact BiVO4 films with enhanced properties.
- Fabrication and characterization of FTO/BiVO4/CoPi photoanodes and CZTS/BiVO4 tandem devices.
Main Results:
- Optimized BiVO4 films exhibited superior PEC performance with a photocurrent density of 5.51 mA cm-2 at 1.23 VRHE.
- The FTO/BiVO4/CoPi photoanode achieved an applied bias photon-to-current efficiency (ABPE) of 1.58%.
- The integrated tandem device demonstrated an STH conversion efficiency of 2.10%.
Conclusions:
- Precise control over electrodeposition pathway is crucial for developing high-performance BiVO4 photoanodes.
- The engineered BiVO4 photoanode significantly enhances charge separation and surface kinetics for PEC water splitting.
- This work presents a viable strategy for efficient and stable solar hydrogen production using PEC technology.
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