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.