Visible-Light-Harvesting Hedgehog like Copper Bismuth Oxide: Optical, Structural and Electrochemical Properties

Abstract

Synthesize of materials with desired properties such as harvest wide range of solar spectrum including visible light and better charge transport properties preferred due to its many potential applications such as water hydrogen splitting, photocatalytic dye degradation and photovoltaic application etc. In this present study the CuBi2O4 material successfully synthesized by solution based synthesize method, followed by dried at 150°C and sintered at various temperature such as 300°C, 400°C and 500°C and the variation of its’ optical, structural and electrochemical properties were analyzed. The sample sintered at 500°C exists in pure form and there are no identified incomplete phases of CuO and Bi2O3. However, the sample sintered at higher temperature shows higher charge transfer resistance between electrode-electrolyte interface. CuBi2O4 sintered at lower temperature shows better charge transfer characteristic due to formation of small size of crystal and existence of different incomplete phases of CuBi2O4 such as CuO and Bi2O3 etc. However, the sample sintered at high temperature showed better characteristic properties for visible light-driven photocatalyst such as enhanced in crystallinity, low dislocation density, and enhanced absorption in visible region of the spectrum. Therefore, the higher sintered temperature is more suitable to synthesize the visible light-driven CuBi2O4 photocatalyst.