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Cooperative Catalytic Effect of ZrO 2 and α‐Fe 2 O 3 Nanoparticles on BiVO 4 Photoanodes for Enhanced Photoelectrochemical Water Splitting
Author(s) -
Shaddad Maged N.,
Ghanem Mohamed A.,
AlMayouf Abdullah M.,
Gimenez Sixto,
Bisquert Juan,
HerraizCardona Isaac
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
chemsuschem
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.412
H-Index - 157
eISSN - 1864-564X
pISSN - 1864-5631
DOI - 10.1002/cssc.201600890
Subject(s) - water splitting , photocurrent , materials science , catalysis , nanoparticle , semiconductor , oxide , photoelectrochemical cell , photoelectrochemistry , chemical engineering , nanotechnology , kinetics , inorganic chemistry , electrolyte , electrode , electrochemistry , chemistry , optoelectronics , photocatalysis , biochemistry , engineering , physics , quantum mechanics , metallurgy
Photoelectrochemical water splitting with metal oxide semiconductors offers a cost‐competitive alternative for the generation of solar fuels. Most of the materials studied so far suffer from poor charge‐transfer kinetics at the semiconductor/liquid interface, making compulsory the use of catalytic layers to overcome the large overpotentials required for the water oxidation reaction. Herein, we report a very soft electrolytic synthesis deposition method, which allows remarkably enhanced water oxidation kinetics of BiVO 4 photoanodes by the sequential addition of Zr and Fe precursors. Upon a heat treatment cycle, these precursors are converted into monoclinic ZrO 2 and α‐Fe 2 O 3 nanoparticles, which mainly act as catalysts, leading to a five‐fold increase of the water oxidation photocurrent of BiVO 4 . This method provides a versatile platform that is easy to apply to different semiconductor materials, fully reproducible, and facile to scale‐up on large area conductive substrates with attractive implications for technological deployment.