The effect of embedding Au nanoparticles (NPs) in a BiVO4/Fe2O3 heterojunction for photoelectrochemical water splitting is studied here for the first time. The present nanostructured heterojunction offers three major advantages over pristine BiVO4 and Fe2O3: (i) the formation of a heterojunction between BiVO4 and Fe2O3 enhances the charge carrier separation and transfer, (ii) the layer of Fe2O3...

Relatively low electron mobility has been thought to be a key factor that limits the overall photocatalytic performance of BiVO4, but the behavior of electrons has not been fully elucidated. We examine electron localization and transport in BiVO4 using hybrid density functional theory calculations. An excess electron is found to remain largely localized on one V atom. The predicted hopping barr...

We applied an automated semiconductor synthesis and screen system to discover overcoating film materials and optimize coating conditions on the BiVO4/WO3 composite photoelectrode to enhance stability and photocurrent. Thirteen metallic elements for overcoating oxides were examined with various coating amounts. The stability of the BiVO4/WO3 photoelectrode in a highly concentrated carbonate elec...

We report a scalably synthesized WO3/BiVO4 core/shell nanowire photoanode in which BiVO4 is the primary light-absorber and WO3 acts as an electron conductor. These core/shell nanowires achieve the highest product of light absorption and charge separation efficiencies among BiVO4-based photoanodes to date and, even without an added catalyst, produce a photocurrent of 3.1 mA/cm(2) under simulated...

We report an unassisted solar water splitting system powered by a diketopyrrolopyrrole (DPP)-containing semitransparent organic solar cell. Two major merits of this fullerene-free solar cell enable its integration with a BiVO4 photoanode. First is the high open circuit voltage and high fill factor displayed by this single junction solar cell, which yields sufficient power to effect water splitt...

Conversion of solar irradiation into chemical fuels such as hydrogen with the use of a photoelectrochemical (PEC) cell is an attractive strategy for green energy. The promising technique of incorporating metal nanoparticles (NPs) in the photoelectrodes is being explored to enhance the performance of the photoelectrodes. In this work, we developed Au-NPs-functionalized nanoporous BiVO4 photoanod...

The photoelectrochemical (PEC) water splitting performance of BiVO4 is partially hindered by insufficient photoresponse in the spectral region with energy below the band gap. Here, we demonstrate that the PEC water splitting efficiency of BiVO4 electrodes can be effectively enhanced by decorating Pd nanoparticles (NPs) and nanorods (NRs). The results indicate that the Pd NPs and NRs with differ...