Enhanced performance of NiF₂/BiVO₄ photoanode for photoelectrochemical water splitting

Abstract

The serious surface charge recombination and fatigued photogenerated carriers transfer of the BiVO₄ photoanode restrict its photoelectrochemical (PEC) water splitting performance. In this work, nickel fluoride (NiF₂) is applied to revamp pure BiVO₄ photoanode by using a facile electrodeposition method. As a result, the as-prepared NiF₂/BiVO₄ photoanode increases the dramatic photocurrent density by approximately 180% compared with the pristine BiVO₄ photoanode. Furthermore, the correlative photon-to-current conversion efficiency, the charge injection, and the separation efficiency, as well as the hydrogen generation of the composite photoanode have been memorably enhanced due to the synergy of NiF₂ and BiVO₄. This study may furnish a dependable guidance in fabricating the fluoride-based compound/semiconductor composite photoanode system.

Graphical abstract

Keywords

BiVO₄ / NiF₂ / heterojunction / photoelectrochemical water splitting

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Acknowledgments

This work was financially supported by the National Key Research and Development Program of China (Grant No. 2017YFC0602306), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 21808189), and National Natural Science Foundation of Gansu Province (Grant No. 20JR5RA523).

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