Facile synthesis of tungsten oxide – Bismuth vanadate nanoflakes as photoanode material for solar water splitting

Akram A.M. Ibrahim, Ibrahim Khan, Naseer Iqbal, Ahsanullhaq Qurashi

Research output: Journal PublicationArticlepeer-review

46 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

This research article describes the synthesis of hetero-structured WO3/BiVO4 nanoflakes as photoanode material for photoelectrochemical water splitting. The heterojunction WO3/BiVO4 nanoflakes developed by facile hydrothermal method. WO3/BiVO4 uniform films fabricated simply by drop casting technique onto indium oxide tin oxide (ITO) coated glass substrates. Detailed morphological, structural and compositional characterization of WO3/BiVO4 carried out by XRD, FE-SEM, and EDX techniques. Optical properties studied by Raman and UV–VIS spectroscopy, respectively. The band gap energy of WO3/BiVO4 hetero-junction estimated to be about 2.00 eV. These WO3/BiVO4 heterojunction structures offered enhanced photo-conversion efficiency and increased photo-corrosion stability. In addition, these nanoflakes films showed significantly enhanced photo-electrochemical properties due to their high surface-area and enhanced separation of the photo-generated charge at the WO3/BiVO4 interface. The effect of calcination temperature on WO3/BiVO4 also investigated.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)3423-3430
Number of pages8
JournalInternational Journal of Hydrogen Energy
Volume42
Issue number5
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2 Feb 2017
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • Solar water splitting
  • WO
  • WO/BiVO heterojunctions
  • WO/BiVO nanoflakes

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Renewable Energy, Sustainability and the Environment
  • Fuel Technology
  • Condensed Matter Physics
  • Energy Engineering and Power Technology

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