Publication date: 28th August 2024
The generation of hydrogen by renewable processes is a current challenge for researchers around the world [1, 2]. Photocatalytic water splitting is a method in which photocatalytically active particles are dispersed in an aqueous solution and illuminated by sunlight, resulting in the evolution of gaseous hydrogen and oxygen [3]. It is considered a promising approach, especially because of the low complexity of its technological implementation, which holds the promise of cost-competitive hydrogen [4].
To be suitable as a photocatalyst a material is required to fulfill criteria, such as a suitable band gap size, band edges that straddle the water splitting reaction potentials and good stability under reaction conditions. The n-type semiconductor BiVO4, with a band gap of 2.4 V, is considered to fullfil these criteria for the oxygen evolution reaction.
One of the most investigated methods to modify the optical and electronic properties to enhance the photocatalytic performance is doping [5]. For example Wang et al. have shown an increased photocatalytic performance for cationic substitution of BiVO4 with Mo [6] and Rohloff et al. have shown an increased photocurrent density for BiVO4 photoelectrodes by anionic doping with fluorine [7].
In this study the influence of the band gap shift due to anionic substitution of chlorine into BiVO4 is investigated. Therefore, BiVO4 particles are prepared via hydrothermal synthesis with the addition of halide salts, leading to partial substitution of oxygen in the lattice. The crystal structure is characterized by X-ray diffraction and the morphology by scanning electron microscopy. The chemical composition is analyzed by energy dispersive x-ray spectroscopy and electron energy loss spectroscopy. UV-vis spectroscopy is performed to investigate the optical properties. The oxygen evolution rate is determined by gas chromatography during the photocatalytic reaction in the presence of a sacrificial reagent.
We acknowledge funding from the Swiss National Science Foundation, Sinergia Grant number: CRSII5_20225
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