Nanoscale Assembly of BiVO4/CdS/CoOx Core–Shell Heterojunction for Enhanced Photoelectrochemical Water Splitting

Porous BiVO4 electrodes were conformally decorated with CdS via a chemical bath deposition process. The highest photocurrent at 1.1 V vs. RHE was achieved for BiVO4/CdS composite (4.54 mA cm−2), compared (1.19 cm−2) and bare (2.1 under AM 1.5G illumination. This improvement in the photoefficiency can be ascribed to both enhanced optical absorption properties charge separation due heterojunction formation between CdS. Furthermore, photoanode protected CoOx layer substantially increase photostability of material. new BiVO4/CdS/CoOx nanostructure exhibited highly stable density ~5 cm−2. capability produce O2 locally investigated by scanning photoelectrochemical microscope, which showed good agreement reduction current maps. work develops an efficient route improve photo-electrochemical performance its long-term stability.