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Stability of the Nanoporous Bismuth Oxide Photoanodes for Solar Water Splitting

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Book cover Materials and Processes for Solar Fuel Production

Part of the book series: Nanostructure Science and Technology ((NST,volume 174))

Abstract

Bismuth oxide has well-dispersed valence bands that show enhanced mobility of charge carriers, high refractive index, and large dielectric constant. These properties are attractive for photocatalysis. Bismuth oxide has widely been investigated for photo degradation of dyes for safeguarding the environment. However, not much work has been reported on bismuth oxide as a photo electrode material for solar water splitting. Photo decomposition of Bi2O3 is a concern when used as a photo cathode. However, Bi2O3 can be obtained as an n-type semiconductor by stabilizing other polymorph: β-Bi2O3, which is a metastable phase. Thin films of nanoporous bismuth oxide were synthesized by a simple electrochemical anodization of bismuth substrate. Annealing the anodic nanoporous Bi2O3 at 240 °C for 2 h resulted in stabilization of the β-Bi2O3 phase. Longer annealing times resulted in formation of the more stable α-Bi2O3 phase that showed monoclinic lattice structure and p-type semiconductivity. The photo stability of these materials is discussed based on the photoelectrochemical measurements.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Chemical and Materials Engineering, University of Idaho, Moscow, ID, 83844, USA

    Kalyan Chitrada & K. S. Raja

Authors
  1. Kalyan Chitrada
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  2. K. S. Raja
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Correspondence to K. S. Raja .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. National Centre for Catalysis Research, Indian Institute of Technology Madras, Chennai, India

    Balasubramanian Viswanathan

  2. Department of Chemical and Materials Engineering, University of Nevada, Reno, Nevada, USA

    Vaidyanathan (Ravi) Subramanian

  3. Pohang University of Science & Tech., Pohang, Korea, Republic of (South Korea)

    Jae Sung Lee

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Chitrada, K., Raja, K.S. (2014). Stability of the Nanoporous Bismuth Oxide Photoanodes for Solar Water Splitting. In: Viswanathan, B., Subramanian, V., Lee, J. (eds) Materials and Processes for Solar Fuel Production. Nanostructure Science and Technology, vol 174. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4939-1628-3_9

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