Efficient Improved Charge Separation of FeP Decorated Worm-Like Nanoporous BiVO4 Photoanodes for Solar-Driven Water Splitting

Abstract Photoelectrochemical (PEC) water splitting using BiVO 4 semiconductor photoanodes have been appealed to plenty of attentions in the past few decades. In this study, FeP was used as an active precious-metal-free cocatalyst for the first time to enhance the performance of worm-like nanoporous BiVO 4 photoanodes for PEC water splitting. Characterization results demonstrate that FeP nanoparticles were successfully deposited on surface of the pritine BiVO 4 photoanodes, and served as an noble metal-free cocatalyst for solar-driven PEC water splitting. Furthermore, a maximum photocurrent density of ~ 3.05 mA/cm 2 at 1.23 V vs RHE could be achieved by loading moderate amount of FeP on the surface of BiVO 4 , which is about 1.6 times higher than that of the unmodified BiVO 4 . Meanwhile, the efficient suppression of surface recombination by FeP was also confirmed by the PEC measurements in Na 2 SO 3 solution. The maximum ABPE of FeP/BiVO 4 photoanodes was ~ 0.53% at 0.60 V vs RHE, indicating the potential application for overall solar-driven water splitting. Graphic Abstract