Vanadium pentoxide–dibismuth trioxide nanosheets for efficient photoelectrochemical water splitting: Effect of applied bias on charge transfer kinetics

Abstract

V2O5-Bi2O3 nanosheets were synthesized using a facile technique, and the effects of the heterostructure on the generation of photocurrents and charge kinetics under dark/light conditions were investigated. The intimate interfacial interaction between V2O5 and Bi2O3 in the V2O5–Bi2O3 nanosheets resulted in a significantly high and stable photocurrents of approximately 1.7 × 10-4 Acm−2 for 1000 s, which is 5.4 and 14.4 times higher than that of pure V2O5 and Bi2O3 nanosheets. The synergetic effect of pure V2O5 and Bi2O3 on the charge transfer kinetics of V2O5–Bi2O3 photoelectrodes at different applied bias potentials was systematically analyzed.