Anthraquinone-based polymer modified BiVO4 photoanode with strong electron-withdrawing functional groups for boasting photoelectrochemical water oxidation

Wenhui Xie; Zebin Yu; Hongcheng Huang; Ronghua Jiang; Shuangquan Yao; Jun Huang; Yanping Hou; Shibin Yin; Rongli Mo; Cheng Wu

doi:10.1016/j.jcis.2024.03.160

Anthraquinone-based polymer modified BiVO₄ photoanode with strong electron-withdrawing functional groups for boasting photoelectrochemical water oxidation

J Colloid Interface Sci. 2024 Jul:665:977-987. doi: 10.1016/j.jcis.2024.03.160. Epub 2024 Mar 28.

Authors

Wenhui Xie¹, Zebin Yu², Hongcheng Huang³, Ronghua Jiang⁴, Shuangquan Yao⁵, Jun Huang⁶, Yanping Hou³, Shibin Yin⁷, Rongli Mo³, Cheng Wu³

Affiliations

¹ School of Resources, Environment and Materials, Guangxi University, Nanning 530004, PR China; Guangxi Key Laboratory of Clean Pulp & Papermaking and Pollution Control, Nanning 530004, PR China; Guangxi Key Laboratory of Electrochemical Energy Materials, Guangxi University, 100 Daxue Road, Nanning 530004, PR China.
² School of Resources, Environment and Materials, Guangxi University, Nanning 530004, PR China; Guangxi Key Laboratory of Electrochemical Energy Materials, Guangxi University, 100 Daxue Road, Nanning 530004, PR China. Electronic address: xxzx7514@hotmail.com.
³ School of Resources, Environment and Materials, Guangxi University, Nanning 530004, PR China.
⁴ School of Chemical and Environmental Engineering, Shaoguan University, Shaoguan 512005, PR China.
⁵ Guangxi Key Laboratory of Clean Pulp & Papermaking and Pollution Control, Nanning 530004, PR China. Electronic address: yaoshuangquan@gxu.edu.cn.
⁶ School of Civil Engineering and Architecture, Guangxi Minzu University, Nanning 530004, PR China.
⁷ Guangxi Key Laboratory of Electrochemical Energy Materials, Guangxi University, 100 Daxue Road, Nanning 530004, PR China.

PMID: 38574586
DOI: 10.1016/j.jcis.2024.03.160

Abstract

The photoelectrochemical (PEC) performance ofBiVO₄ is limited by sluggish water oxidation kinetics and severe carrier recombination. Herein, a novel high-performance BiVO₄/NiFe-NOAQ photoanode is prepared by a simple one-step hydrothermal method, using BiVO₄ and 1-Nitroanthraquinone (NOAQ) as raw materials. The BiVO₄/NiFe-NOAQ photoanode has an excellent photocurrent density of 5.675 mA cm^-2 at 1.23 V_RHE, which is 3.35 times higher than that of the pure BiVO₄ (1.693 mA cm^-2) photoanode. The BiVO₄/NiFe-NOAQ shows a significant improvement in charge separation efficiency (86.12 %) and charge injection efficiency (87.86 %). The improvement is ascribable to the NiFe-NOAQ form a type II heterojunction with BiVO₄ to inhibit carrier recombination. More importantly, the kinetic isotope experiment suggests that the proton-coupled electron transfer (PCET) process can enhance the charge transfer of BiVO₄/NiFe-NOAQ. The contact angle measurements show that modifying functional groups enhanced the hydrophilicity of BiVO₄/NiFe-NOAQ, which can further accelerate the PCET process. The XPS and PL results as well as the tauc plot indicate that the strong electron-withdrawing ability of -NO₂ which can promote the extension of π conjugation, results in more π electron delocalization and produces more efficient active sites, thus achieving efficient photoelectrochemical water oxidation.

Keywords: Anthraquinone-based polymers; BiVO(4); Electron-withdrawing functional groups; Photoelectrochemical water splitting; Proton-coupled electron transfer.