A nitrogen-rich BiVO4 nanosheet photoanode for photoelectrochemical water oxidation

In this work, a nitrogen-rich BiVO4 nanosheet sample prepared by one-step hydrothermal method and characterized by XRD, TEM, Raman, XPS. With the introduction of N, partial oxygen atoms of BiVO4 were replaced by N to form Bi-N and V-N bonds, lead to the deviation of binding energy and the right shift of Raman peak. PEC measurements show that photocurrent density of nitrogen-rich BiVO4 photocatalyst is nearly two times higher than the pristine BiVO4, have longer electronic life and higher carrier concentration. These are mainly attributed to the Bi-N and V-N bonds are serve as the main OER catalytic active sites, and facilitate the transmission of electrons from the semiconductor surface to the FTO. The possible catalytic mechanism of nitrogen-rich BiVO4 system has also been proposed.