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Sensitize BiVO4 with rhodamine B using BiOCl as a bridge to yield more photoelectrons for photoelectrochemical application

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Abstract

One approach that shows promising for producing hydrogen fuel from solar energy is photoelectrochemical (PEC) water splitting. The main challenge is to design effective photoanodes. Although bismuth vanadate (BiVO4) is an ideal photoanode in terms of absorbing visible light, serious electron–hole recombination and poor charge transport limit its application as a photoanode of PEC. Dye sensitization is the key method to improve electron transfer and light utilization. Herein, an enhanced dye (rhodamine B, RhB)-sensitized BiVO4/BiOCl system was explored. The results show that the process of RhB sensitization BiVO4 requires BiOCl as a bridge. The RhB-sensitized BiVO4/BiOCl system exhibits excellent photoelectrochemical activity, which is attributed to its enhanced photoinduced electron transport and wider visible light response range. This inspiration comes from the mythical story of China, "Cowherd and the Weaver Girl Meet at the Magpie Bridge". The combination of dye sensitization and BiVO4/BiOCl heterojunction explored an energy-saving, efficient and green light-induced system to improve the PEC efficiency.

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All data generated or analysed during this study are included in this published article [and its supplementary information files].

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Acknowledgements

The authors gratefully acknowledge the financial support provided by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (no. 11747069) and the Foundation of Henan Educational Committee (no. 23A140007) for this research.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. National Demonstration Center for Experimental Physics Education, Henan Normal University, Xinxiang, 453007, China

    Jun Shang, Yajing Cheng & Fuqiang Wang

  2. Henan Key Laboratory of Photovoltaic Materials, Xinxiang, 453007, China

    Jun Shang & Xianwei Wang

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  1. Jun Shang
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JS: investigation, formal analysis, data curation, conceived of the presented idea and supervised the project. YC: validation, supervision, writing—original draft. FW: editing and revise the manuscript. XW: supervised the project, participated in conceptualization, proof reading.

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Correspondence to Jun Shang.

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Shang, J., Cheng, Y., Wang, F. et al. Sensitize BiVO4 with rhodamine B using BiOCl as a bridge to yield more photoelectrons for photoelectrochemical application. Appl. Phys. A 130, 311 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00339-024-07471-1

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