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Polyhedron BiVO4 co-doped by Mo and Y for visible light-driven photocatalytic overall water splitting

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Abstract

Photocatalytic overall water splitting (POWS) is a promising route for converting solar energy into green and sustainable energy. Herein, we report a facile hydrothermal approach to fabricate polyhedron BiVO4 by Mo and Yco-doping (MYB) photocatalysts with suitable band gap for POWS. The MYB exhibited enhanced visible light-driven POWS activities in comparison with that of as-prepared BiVO4, Y-BiVO4 and M-BiVO4, with the maximum H2 and O2 evolution rate of 34.7 and 17.4 μmol·h−1·g−1, respectively. The optimum activity of the catalyst was controlled by adjusting Mo content of MYB. The photodeposition of Pt shows that there are special separation reduction and oxidation centers on the surface of MYB. Electrochemical experiments further confirmed the enhanced charge separation of MYB. MYB photocatalyst has small particle size, unique polyhedral structure, large specific surface area and high (103) and (200) surface exposure, thus improving POWS performance, high electron transfer efficiency and effective separation of photogenerated electron–hole pairs. Because of the doping of Mo and Y elements, the electronic structure of the catalyst is altered, enhancing light absorption and reducing the recombination of photogenerated electron–hole pair. The current study revealed that the MYB products could serve as cost-effective and stable photocatalysts for POWS.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported financially by funding from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (21866028, 82060646), Achievements Transformation and Technique Extension Projection in Shihezi University (CGZH201603), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (62071459, 22268037), Subject arrangement Foundation of Shenzhen (JCYJ20180507182057026).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, State Key Laboratory Incubation Base for Green Processing of Chemical Engineering, Shihezi University, Shihezi, Beisi Road, Shihezi City, Xinjiang, 832003, People’s Republic of China

    Yifan Wang, Lele Wang, Qi Li, Jianning Wu, Guihua Meng, Shengchao Yang, Zhiyong Liu & Jichang Liu

  2. Key Laboratory of Human-Machine Intelligence-Synergy Systems of Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), Shenzhen Institutes of Advanced Technology, CAS, Shenzhen, 518055, China

    Yanlong Tai

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  1. Yifan Wang
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  2. Lele Wang
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  3. Qi Li
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  4. Jianning Wu
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  5. Guihua Meng
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  6. Shengchao Yang
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  7. Zhiyong Liu
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  8. Yanlong Tai
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Contributions

YW (first author) contributed to conceptualization, methodology, software, investigation, formal analysis and writing—original draft; LW contributed to data curation and writing—original draft; QL contributed to visualization and investigation; JW, SY, YT and JL contributed to visualization and writing—review and editing. GM, ZL (corresponding author) contributed to conceptualization, funding acquisition, resources, supervision, writing—review and editing.

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Correspondence to Guihua Meng or Zhiyong Liu.

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Wang, Y., Wang, L., Li, Q. et al. Polyhedron BiVO4 co-doped by Mo and Y for visible light-driven photocatalytic overall water splitting. J Mater Sci (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10853-024-09675-5

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