Enhanced electricity generation in photoelectrochemical cell using Sn-doped BiOCl photoanode

Abstract

Photoanode material, due to its wide applications in photoelectrochemistry, has attracted much attention. In this work, tin-doped BiOCl (BiOCl-Sn) is prepared through a simple and effective method. A photoelectrochemical cell system with BiOCl-Sn as the photoanode is constructed. The short circuit current (Jsc) and open circuit voltage (Voc) are measured to be 0.0516 mA·cm−2 and 0.26 V. Both Mott–Schottky curve and valence band spectra prove that Sn doping leads to a shift of the conduction band minimum downward. Meanwhile, the results of photocurrent and impedance measurements reveal that the Sn doping accelerates the photocarriers separation. The photocatalytic redox properties of BiOCl-Sn are investigated by rhodamine B degradation and nitrogen fixation.