Photoelectrochemical studies on BiVO4 membranes deposition on transparent conductive substrates by a facile electrophoresis route

Abstract

BiVO4 membranes were deposited on transparent conducting oxide substrates by a facile electrophoretic deposition route, followed by a thermal sintering process. As the sintering temperature (T a) raise, the BiVO4 grains got larger due to the interaction and agglomeration. As a result, the 600 °C sintered BiVO4 membranes exhibited a photocurrent density of ~23 μA/cm2 at a potential 0.5 V versus the saturated calomel electrode. Besides, a rapid decay behavior was also observed in the curves of photocurrent versus time, which might be attributed to a high carrier recombination. Through applying a positive potential, that instability behavior got suppressed effectively, while the actual photocurrent was enhanced significantly.