BiVO4/MoO3 composites for ultra high performance energy-storing photocathodic protective coatings

The practical application of photocathodic protection (PCP) technology has been hindered by its failure in darkness. In this work, The BiVO 4 /MoO 3 composites were synthesized through a simple hydrothermal method, which were used as functional fillers, and then added to polyurethane resins to prepare energy-storing PCP coatings. This achievement enabled efficient PCP even in darkness. The 304 stainless steel coated with PCP coating (PB 10 M 1 ) exhibited excellent photoelectrochemical properties as photocurrent density of 394 μA/cm 2 , and the corrosion potential decreased by about 350 mV. Furthermore, the cathodic protection effect of PB 10 M 1 could last for 15 h in the dark, showing exceptional stability, superior energy-storage ability and potential application. The superior PCP performance of BiVO 4 /MoO 3 should be attributed to the cooperative effect in heterojunction structure and electronic regulation revealed by electrochemical characterizations and DFT calculation.