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Title: Role of Hydrogen in Defining the n-Type Character of BiVO4 Photoanodes

Journal Article · · Chemistry of Materials
 [1];  [1];  [2];  [1];  [3];  [2];  [1];  [3];  [4];  [1]
  1. Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)
  2. Univ. of California, Santa Cruz, CA (United States)
  3. Technische Univ. Munchen, Garching (Germany)
  4. Rensselaer Polytechnic Inst., Troy, NY (United States)

The roles of hydrogen impurity and oxygen vacancy defects on defining the conductivity, and hence photoelectrochemical (PEC) performance characteristics, of monoclinic scheelite bismuth vanadate (BiVO4) are investigated using a combination of experiment and theory. We find that elemental hydrogen is present as an impurity in as-synthesized BiVO4 and that increasing its concentration by annealing in H2 at temperatures up to 290°C leads to near-complete elimination of majority carrier transport limitations, a beneficial shift in the photoanodic current onset potential, and improved fill factor. Magnetic resonance measurements reveal that hydrogen can be incorporated in at least two different chemical environments, which are assigned to interstitial and substitutional sites. Incorporation of hydrogen leads to a shift of the Fermi level toward the conduction band edge, indicating that n-type character is correlated with increased hydrogen content. This finding is in agreement with theory and reveals that hydrogen acts as a donor in BiVO4. Sub-bandgap photoluminescence is observed from as-synthesized material and is consistent with deep electronic states associated with oxygen vacancies. Hydrogen treatment leads to reduced emission from these states. These findings support the conclusion that hydrogen, rather than oxygen vacancies, is dominant in determining the n-type conductivity of BiVO4. These findings have important implications for controlling the electronic properties and functional characteristics of this promising photoanode material.

Research Organization:
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES); USDOE Office of Science (SC), Workforce Development for Teachers and Scientists (WDTS)
Grant/Contract Number:
AC02-05CH11231
OSTI ID:
1393071
Journal Information:
Chemistry of Materials, Vol. 28, Issue 16; ISSN 0897-4756
Publisher:
American Chemical Society (ACS)Copyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Citation Metrics:
Cited by: 97 works
Citation information provided by
Web of Science

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Stepping towards Solar Water Splitting: Recent Progress in Bismuth Vanadate Photoanodes journal May 2019
Rapid Formation of a Disordered Layer on Monoclinic BiVO 4 : Co-Catalyst-Free Photoelectrochemical Solar Water Splitting journal February 2018
Freeing the Polarons to Facilitate Charge Transport in BiVO 4 from Oxygen Vacancies with an Oxidative 2D Precursor journal December 2019
Recent developments in complex metal oxide photoelectrodes journal April 2017
Irradiation Direction‐Dependent Surface Charge Recombination in Hematite Thin‐Film Oxygen Evolution Photoanodes journal October 2019
Freeing the Polarons to Facilitate Charge Transport in BiVO 4 from Oxygen Vacancies with an Oxidative 2D Precursor journal November 2019
Polyethylene glycol-doped BiZn 2 VO 6 as a high-efficiency solar-light-activated photocatalyst with substantial durability toward photodegradation of organic contaminations journal January 2018
The impact of crystal defects towards oxide semiconductor photoanode for photoelectrochemical water splitting journal October 2019
Elaborately Modified BiVO 4 Photoanodes for Solar Water Splitting journal December 2018
New Mixed Y0.5R0.5VO4 and RVO4:Bi Materials: Synthesis, Crystal Structure and Some Luminescence Properties journal September 2018
Formation and suppression of defects during heat treatment of BiVO 4 photoanodes for solar water splitting journal January 2018
Photocurrent Enhancement by Spontaneous Formation of a p-n Junction in Calcium-Doped Bismuth Vanadate Photoelectrodes journal May 2018
Quasi-degenerate states and their dynamics in oxygen deficient reducible metal oxides journal February 2020
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