Oxygen-deficient bismuth tungstate and bismuth oxide composite photoanode with improved photostability

Hoi Ying Chung; Weijian Chen; Xiaoming Wen; Judy N Hart; Hao Wu; Yuekun Lai; Rose Amal; Yun Hau Ng

doi:10.1016/j.scib.2018.06.012

Oxygen-deficient bismuth tungstate and bismuth oxide composite photoanode with improved photostability

Sci Bull (Beijing). 2018 Aug 15;63(15):990-996. doi: 10.1016/j.scib.2018.06.012. Epub 2018 Jun 27.

Authors

Hoi Ying Chung¹, Weijian Chen², Xiaoming Wen³, Judy N Hart⁴, Hao Wu¹, Yuekun Lai⁵, Rose Amal¹, Yun Hau Ng⁶

Affiliations

¹ Particles and Catalysis Research Group, School of Chemical Engineering, The University of New South Wales (UNSW) Sydney, NSW 2052, Australia.
² School of Photovoltaic and Renewable Energy Engineering, The University of New South Wales (UNSW) Sydney, NSW 2052, Australia; Centre for Micro-Photonics, Faculty of Science, Engineering and Technology, Swinburne University of Technology, Melbourne, VIC 3122, Australia.
³ Centre for Micro-Photonics, Faculty of Science, Engineering and Technology, Swinburne University of Technology, Melbourne, VIC 3122, Australia.
⁴ School of Materials Science and Engineering, The University of New South Wales (UNSW) Sydney, NSW 2052, Australia.
⁵ National Engineering Laboratory for Modern Silk, College of Textile and Clothing Engineering, Soochow University, Suzhou 215123, China.
⁶ Particles and Catalysis Research Group, School of Chemical Engineering, The University of New South Wales (UNSW) Sydney, NSW 2052, Australia. Electronic address: yh.ng@unsw.edu.au.

PMID: 36658895
DOI: 10.1016/j.scib.2018.06.012

Abstract

A homogeneous layer of Bi₂O₃-Bi₁₄WO₂₄ composite (BWO/Bi₂O₃) thin film was fabricated using a combination of electrodeposition and thermal treatment. The evenly distributed Bi₁₄WO₂₄ component within the Bi₂O₃ layer was found to be important in stabilising the photoelectrochemical performances of Bi₂O₃ photoanode by promoting the photoelectron transport. The unmodified Bi₂O₃ suffered from severe photocorrosion as proven by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and inductively coupled plasma (ICP) analyses while the composite thin film was active without noticeable activity decay for at least 3 h of illumination. This strategy might be applicable to other photocatalysts with stability issues.

Keywords: Bismuth oxide; Bismuth tungstate; Photocorrosion.