W:BiVO4-WO3-V2O5 heterostructures increase light absorption and charge transport in photoanodes for water splitting

Semiconducting eutectic materials for photocatalysis and photoelectrochemistry applications: a perspective

“…Many other oxides have also been utilized as photoanodes. For example, Andrade et al 147 made seven different electrodes (W:BiVO 4 (A), V 2 O 5 (B), WO 3 (C), WO 3 –V 2 O 5 (D), W:BiVO 4 –WO 3 (E), W: BiVO 4 –V 2 O 5 (F), and W:BiVO 4 –WO 3 –V 2 O 5 ) on FTO substrates by drop-casting. They characterized and found W:BiVO 4 –WO 3 –V 2 O 5 as the best photoanode candidate with a photo-current density of 8.2 mA cm −2 due to the combined effect of WO 3 and V 2 O 5 in increasing electron and hole mobility, respectively.…”

“…104 Other than the sol–gel method, techniques like the one-pot method, the ion adoption templating method, hydrothermal treatment, the pulsed laser deposition (PLD) technique, and many more have contributed and have produced remarkable results in the development of photoanodes in recent years. 32,47,146–149 Researchers achieved good photocatalytic activity due to photo-generated charge separation at TiO 2 /SnO 2 , by ion adoption and templating methods that had small grain size and good crystalline compatibility. 150…”

Biofuels and hydrogen production: back to the Langmuir–Blodgett approach for large-scale structuration of Bi-based photoelectrodes

“…BiVO 4 is found in nature in the pucherite mineral, but the photoactive materials are synthesized mainly in the laboratory and lead to two main structures: Zircon-type and scheelite. 15 The scheelite structure is the most photoactive because a band gap of 2.4 eV absorbs an essential part of visible light, and the literature demonstrates a close link between this property and the crystal structure, as explained by Park et al 15 It is expected to boost semiconducting photoactivity with other compounds such as tungsten (WO 3 ), 19,38 thin SnO 2 39 graphene oxide (GO), 40 Bi 4 V 2 O 11 [41][42][43] or V 2 O 5 . [44][45][46][47] Multiple objectives include covering a wider absorption band, ensuring charge separation efficiency, and transport processes.…”

“…Recent advancements in the development of photoelectrocatalysts have focused on transition metal oxides, 13,14 particularly scheelite-type monoclinic BiVO 4 , sometimes completed by carbon moieties as cocatalysts (GO, MWCNT), owing to their advantages in scaling up photoelectrodes, such as an adapted band gap for solar absorption (2.4 eV (VIS)), efficient charge separation, and atomic element availability. [15][16][17][18][19][20][21] Although these compounds are still under study, ongoing research aims to validate their efficiency and long-term stability under real working conditions.…”

“…It is expected to boost semiconducting photoactivity with other compounds such as tungsten (WO 3 ), 19,38 thin SnO 2 39 graphene oxide (GO), 40 Bi 4 V 2 O 11 41–43 or V 2 O 5 . 44–47 Multiple objectives include covering a wider absorption band, ensuring charge separation efficiency, and transport processes.…”