Nanoscale imaging of charge carrier transport in water splitting photoanodes
Abstract
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.
- Authors:
- Publication Date:
- Research Org.:
- Scuba Probe Technologies LLC, Alameda, CA (United States); Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)
- Sponsoring Org.:
- 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 Org.:
- Scuba Probe Technologies LLC, Alameda, CA (United States)
- OSTI Identifier:
- 1457514
- Alternate Identifier(s):
- OSTI ID: 1460612; OSTI ID: 1465473
- Grant/Contract Number:
- AC02-05CH11231; SC0013212; IIP-141659; SC 0013212
- Resource Type:
- Published Article
- Journal Name:
- Nature Communications
- Additional Journal Information:
- Journal Name: Nature Communications Journal Volume: 9 Journal Issue: 1; Journal ID: ISSN 2041-1723
- Publisher:
- Nature Publishing Group
- Country of Publication:
- United Kingdom
- Language:
- English
- Subject:
- 77 NANOSCIENCE AND NANOTECHNOLOGY; Electrocatalysis, Solar fuels; 36 MATERIALS SCIENCE; 37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CHEMISTRY
Citation Formats
Eichhorn, Johanna, Kastl, Christoph, Cooper, Jason K., Ziegler, Dominik, Schwartzberg, Adam M., Sharp, Ian D., and Toma, Francesca M. Nanoscale imaging of charge carrier transport in water splitting photoanodes. United Kingdom: N. p., 2018.
Web. doi:10.1038/s41467-018-04856-8.
Eichhorn, Johanna, Kastl, Christoph, Cooper, Jason K., Ziegler, Dominik, Schwartzberg, Adam M., Sharp, Ian D., & Toma, Francesca M. Nanoscale imaging of charge carrier transport in water splitting photoanodes. United Kingdom. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-018-04856-8
Eichhorn, Johanna, Kastl, Christoph, Cooper, Jason K., Ziegler, Dominik, Schwartzberg, Adam M., Sharp, Ian D., and Toma, Francesca M. Mon .
"Nanoscale imaging of charge carrier transport in water splitting photoanodes". United Kingdom. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-018-04856-8.
@article{osti_1457514,
title = {Nanoscale imaging of charge carrier transport in water splitting photoanodes},
author = {Eichhorn, Johanna and Kastl, Christoph and Cooper, Jason K. and Ziegler, Dominik and Schwartzberg, Adam M. and Sharp, Ian D. and Toma, Francesca M.},
abstractNote = {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.},
doi = {10.1038/s41467-018-04856-8},
journal = {Nature Communications},
number = 1,
volume = 9,
place = {United Kingdom},
year = {Mon Jul 16 00:00:00 EDT 2018},
month = {Mon Jul 16 00:00:00 EDT 2018}
}
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-018-04856-8
Web of Science
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