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Enhancing the Efficiency of Water Oxidation by Boron‐Doped BiVO 4 under Visible Light: Hole Trapping by BO 4 Tetrahedra
Author(s) -
Li Yanqing,
Jing Tao,
Liu Yuanyuan,
Huang Baibiao,
Dai Ying,
Zhang Xiaoyang,
Qin Xiaoyan,
Whangbo MyungHwan
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
chempluschem
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.801
H-Index - 61
ISSN - 2192-6506
DOI - 10.1002/cplu.201500110
Subject(s) - boron , materials science , raman spectroscopy , doping , tetragonal crystal system , photocatalysis , monoclinic crystal system , x ray photoelectron spectroscopy , water splitting , tetrahedron , photochemistry , crystallography , chemistry , optoelectronics , crystal structure , nuclear magnetic resonance , optics , physics , organic chemistry , catalysis , biochemistry
Boron‐doped monoclinic and tetragonal phases of BiVO 4 were prepared by using the urea precipitation method, and the visible‐light photocatalytic activities of pristine and boron‐doped BiVO 4 for oxygen generation from water were compared. Boron doping enhances the photocatalytic activities of BiVO 4 . The reasons for this enhancement were probed by performing X‐ray photoelectron, Raman, and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy measurements, and also by performing density functional calculations for model boron‐doped BiVO 4 structures. The photocatalytic activities of BiVO 4 is enhanced by boron doping because the resulting BO 4 tetrahedra, which are smaller than the VO 4 tetrahedra, create an occupied defect level per boron lying approximately 0.17 eV above the valence‐band maximum of pristine BiVO 4 , and this defect level is localized because it is made up of the O 2 p levels of the BO 4 tetrahedron. Thus, the BO 4 tetrahedra that result from boron doping act as hole traps, thereby slowing down the recombination of photogenerated electrons and holes.