Effect of the Si/TiO2/BiVO4 Heterojunction on the Onset Potential of Photocurrents for Solar Water Oxidation

Hyejin Jung, Sang Youn Chae, Changhwan Shin, Byoung Koun Min, Oh Shim Joo, Yun Jeong Hwang

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

    67 Citations (Scopus)

    Abstract

    BiVO4 has been formed into heterojunctions with other metal oxide semiconductors to increase the efficiency for solar water oxidation. Here, we suggest that heterojunction photoanodes of Si and BiVO4 can also increase the efficiency of charge separation and reduce the onset potential of the photocurrent by utilizing the high conduction band edge potential of Si in a dual-absorber system. We found that a thin TiO2 interlayer is required in this structure to realize the suggested photocurrent density enhancement and shifts in onset potential. Si/TiO2/BiVO4 photoanodes showed 1.0 mA/cm2 at 1.23 V versus the reversible hydrogen electrode (RHE) with 0.11 V (vs RHE) of onset potential, which were a 3.3-fold photocurrent density enhancement and a negative shift in onset potential of 300 mV compared to the performance of FTO/BiVO4 photoanodes. (Graph Presented).

    Original languageEnglish
    Pages (from-to)5788-5796
    Number of pages9
    JournalACS Applied Materials and Interfaces
    Volume7
    Issue number10
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - 2015 Mar 18

    Bibliographical note

    Publisher Copyright:
    © 2015 American Chemical Society.

    Keywords

    • BiVO
    • Si
    • TiO
    • dual absorber
    • heterojunction
    • onset potential

    ASJC Scopus subject areas

    • General Materials Science

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