Synergistic Photoelectrochemical and Photocatalytic Properties of the Cobalt Nanoparticles-Embedded TiVO4 Thin Film

Manal Alruwaili; Anurag Roy; Mansour Alhabradi; Xiuru Yang; Asif Ali Tahir

doi:10.1021/acsomega.3c02089

Synergistic Photoelectrochemical and Photocatalytic Properties of the Cobalt Nanoparticles-Embedded TiVO₄ Thin Film

ACS Omega. 2023 Jul 24;8(30):27067-27078. doi: 10.1021/acsomega.3c02089. eCollection 2023 Aug 1.

Authors

Manal Alruwaili^{1

2}, Anurag Roy¹, Mansour Alhabradi^{1

3}, Xiuru Yang¹, Asif Ali Tahir¹

Affiliations

¹ Solar Energy Research Group, Environment and Sustainability Institute, Faculty of Environment, Science and Economy, University of Exeter, Penryn TR10 9FE, U.K.
² Physics Department, Faculty of Science, Jouf University, P.O. Box 2014, Sakaka 42421, Saudi Arabia.
³ Department of Physics, Faculty of Science, Majmaah University, Majmaah 11952, Saudi Arabia.

Abstract

To optimize the semiconductor properties of TiVO₄ thin films and enhance their performance, we incorporated cobalt nanoparticles as an effective co-catalyst consisting of a non-noble metal. Through an investigation into the impact of cobalt loading on spray pyrolyzed TiVO₄ thin films, we observed a significant enhancement in the photoelectrochemical (PEC) performance. This was accomplished by carefully optimizing the concentrations of Co²⁺ (3 mM) to fabricate a composite electrode, resulting in a higher photocurrent density for the TiVO₄:Co photoanode. When an applied potential of 1.23 V (vs RHE) was used, the photocurrent density reached 450 μA/cm², approximately 5 times higher than that of bare TiVO₄. We conducted a thorough characterization of the composite structure and optical properties. Additionally, electrochemical impedance spectroscopy analysis indicated that the TiVO₄/Co thin film exhibited a smaller semicircle, indicating a significant improvement in charge transfer at the interface. In comparison to bare TiVO₄, the TiVO₄/Co composite exhibited a notable improvement in photocatalytic activity when degrading methylene blue (MB) dye, a widely employed model dye. Under light illumination, a TiVO₄/Co thin film exhibited a notable dye degradation rate of 97% within a 45 min duration. The scalability of our fabrication method makes it suitable for large-area devices intended for sunlight-driven PEC seawater splitting studies.