Journal of Chemical Engineering & Process Technology
Open Access
ISSN: 2157-7048
+44-77-2385-9429
ISSN: 2157-7048
+44-77-2385-9429
Maged N Shaddad, Abdullah M Al-Mayouf, Juan Bisquert and Sixto Gimenez
King Saud University, Saudi Arabia
Universitat Jaume I, Spain
Posters & Accepted Abstracts: J Chem Eng Process Technol
Bismuth Vanadate has emerged as one of the most interesting n-type semiconductor materials to oxidize water as a photoanode in a photoelectrochemical cell. The record obtained solar to hydrogen (STH) conversion efficiency is the highest reported to date (6.2%) among the family of metal oxides. Herein, we report a very soft electrolytic synthesis deposition method, which allows remarkably enhancing the water oxidation kinetics of BiVO4 photoanodes by the sequential addition of Zr and Fe precursors. Upon a heat treatment cycle, these precursors are converted into monoclinic ZrO2 and Fe2O3 nanoparticles, which mainly act as catalysts leading to a five-fold increase of the water oxidation photocurrent of BiVO4. This method provides a versatile platform easily to apply to different semiconductor materials, fully reproducible and facile to scale-up on large area conductive substrates with attractive implications for technological deployment. We also show that combined with Co and Ag, which mainly act also as catalysts leading to eight and the six-fold increase of the water oxidation photocurrent of BiVO4 respectively. This method provides a versatile platform easily to apply to different semiconductor materials, fully reproducible and facile to scale-up on large area conductive substrates with attractive implications for technological deployment.
E-mail: mshadad@ksu.edu.sa