Nanoscale imaging of charge carrier transport in water splitting photoanodes

Eichhorn, Johanna; Kastl, Christoph; Cooper, Jason K.; Ziegler, Dominik; Schwartzberg, Adam M.; Sharp, Ian D.; Toma, Francesca M.

doi:10.1038/s41467-018-04856-8

Title: Nanoscale imaging of charge carrier transport in water splitting photoanodes

Journal Article · Mon Jul 16 00:00:00 EDT 2018 · Nature Communications

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-018-04856-8· OSTI ID:1457514

Eichhorn, Johanna; Kastl, Christoph; Cooper, Jason K.; Ziegler, Dominik; Schwartzberg, Adam M.; Sharp, Ian D.;

The performance of energy materials hinges on the presence of structural defects and heterogeneity over different length scales. Here we map the correlation between morphological and functional heterogeneity in bismuth vanadate, a promising metal oxide photoanode for photoelectrochemical water splitting, by photoconductive atomic force microscopy. We demonstrate that contrast in mapping electrical conductance depends on charge transport limitations, and on the contact at the sample/probe interface. Using temperature and illumination intensity-dependent current–voltage spectroscopy, we find that the transport mechanism in bismuth vanadate can be attributed to space charge-limited current in the presence of trap states. We observe no additional recombination sites at grain boundaries, which indicates high defect tolerance in bismuth vanadate. These findings support the fabrication of highly efficient bismuth vanadate nanostructures and provide insights into how local functionality affects the macroscopic performance.

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Research Organization:: Scuba Probe Technologies LLC, Alameda, CA (United States); Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES). Scientific User Facilities Division; USDOE Laboratory Directed Research and Development (LDRD) Program; National Science Foundation (NSF)

Contributing Organization:: Scuba Probe Technologies LLC, Alameda, CA (United States)

Grant/Contract Number:: AC02-05CH11231; SC0013212; IIP-141659; SC 0013212

OSTI ID:: 1457514

Alternate ID(s):: OSTI ID: 1460612; OSTI ID: 1465473

Journal Information:: Nature Communications, Journal Name: Nature Communications Vol. 9 Journal Issue: 1; ISSN 2041-1723

Publisher:: Nature Publishing GroupCopyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United Kingdom

Language:: English

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Cited by: 64 works

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