Dynamic semiconductor-electrolyte interface for sustainable solar water splitting over 600 hours under neutral conditions

Rui-Ting Gao; Nhat Truong Nguyen; Tomohiko Nakajima; Jinlu He; Xianhu Liu; Xueyuan Zhang; Lei Wang; Limin Wu

doi:10.1126/sciadv.ade4589

Dynamic semiconductor-electrolyte interface for sustainable solar water splitting over 600 hours under neutral conditions

Sci Adv. 2023 Jan 4;9(1):eade4589. doi: 10.1126/sciadv.ade4589. Epub 2023 Jan 4.

Authors

Rui-Ting Gao¹, Nhat Truong Nguyen², Tomohiko Nakajima³, Jinlu He¹, Xianhu Liu⁴, Xueyuan Zhang⁵, Lei Wang¹, Limin Wu^{1

6}

Affiliations

¹ College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Inner Mongolia University, Hohhot 010021, China.
² Department of Chemical and Materials Engineering, Gina Cody School of Engineering and Computer Science, Concordia University, Montreal QC H3G 2W1, Canada.
³ Advanced Manufacturing Research Institute, National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology, Tsukuba Central 5, 1-1-1 Higashi, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-8565, Japan.
⁴ Key Laboratory of Materials Processing and Mold, Ministry of Education, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou 450002, China.
⁵ State Key Laboratory of Chemo/Biosensing and Chemometrics, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Hunan University, Changsha 410082, China.
⁶ Department of Materials Science and State Key Laboratory of Molecular Engineering of Polymers, Fudan University, Shanghai 200433, China.

Abstract

Photoelectrochemical (PEC) water splitting that functions in pH-neutral electrolyte attracts increasing attention to energy demand sustainability. Here, we propose a strategy to in situ form a NiB layer by tuning the composition of the neutral electrolyte with the additions of nickel and borate species, which improves the PEC performance of the BiVO₄ photoanode. The NiB/BiVO₄ exhibits a photocurrent density of 6.0 mA cm^-2 at 1.23 V_RHE with an onset potential of 0.2 V_RHE under 1 sun illumination. The photoanode displays a photostability of over 600 hours in a neutral electrolyte. The additive of Ni²⁺ in the electrolyte, which efficiently inhibits the dissolution of NiB, can accelerate the photogenerated charge transfer and enhance the water oxidation kinetics. The borate species with B─O bonds act as a promoter of catalyst activity by accelerating proton-coupled electron transfer. The synergy effect of both species suppresses the surface charge recombination and inhibits the photocorrosion of BiVO₄.