Li Can, Chen Meihong, Xie Yuhan, Wang Hongqiang, Jia Lichao
Key Laboratory of Applied Surface and Colloid Chemistry, National Ministry of Education, Shaanxi Key Laboratory for Advanced Energy Devices, Shaanxi Engineering Lab for Advanced Energy Technology, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Shaanxi Normal University, 620 West Chang'an Street, Xi'an, Shaanxi 710119,China.
State Key Laboratory of Solidification Processing, Center for Nano Energy Materials, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Northwestern Polytechnical University and Shaanxi Joint Labortary of Graphene, Xi'an 710072, China.
J Colloid Interface Sci. 2023 Apr 15;636:103-112. doi: 10.1016/j.jcis.2023.01.005. Epub 2023 Jan 4.
Bismuth vanadate (BVO) is a promising photoanode while suffers from sluggish oxygen evolution kinetics. Herein, an ultra-thin manganese oxide (MnO) is selected as co-catalyst to modify the surface of BVO photoanode by a facile spray pyrolysis method. The photoelectrochemical measurements demonstrate that surface charge transport efficiency (η) of MnO modified BVO photoanode (BVO/MnO) is strikingly increased from 6.7 % to 22.3 % at 1.23 V (reversible hydrogen electrode (V)). Moreover, the η can be further boosted to 51.3 % at 1.23 V after applying Ar plasma on the BVO/MnO sample which is around 7 times higher comparing with that of pristine BVO samples. Additional characterizations reveal that the remarkable PEC performance of the Ar-plasma treated BVO/MnO photoanode (BVO/MnO/Ar plasma) could be attributed to the increased charge carrier density, extended carrier lifetime and additional exposed Mn active sites on the BVO surface. This investigation could provide a new understanding for the design of BVO photoanode with superior PEC performance based on the modification of MnO and plasma surface treatment.
钒酸铋（BVO）是一种很有前景的光阳极，但存在析氧动力学迟缓的问题。在此，选用超薄氧化锰（MnO）作为助催化剂，通过简便的喷雾热解法对BVO光阳极表面进行改性。光电化学测量表明，MnO修饰的BVO光阳极（BVO/MnO）在1.23 V（可逆氢电极（V））下的表面电荷传输效率（η）从6.7%显著提高到22.3%。此外，在BVO/MnO样品上施加氩等离子体后，在1.23 V下η可进一步提高到51.3%，这比原始BVO样品高出约7倍。额外的表征表明，经氩等离子体处理的BVO/MnO光阳极（BVO/MnO/Ar等离子体）卓越的光电化学性能可归因于电荷载流子密度的增加、载流子寿命的延长以及BVO表面额外暴露的Mn活性位点。这项研究可为基于MnO改性和等离子体表面处理设计具有卓越光电化学性能的BVO光阳极提供新的认识。
