Recent trends and outlooks on engineering of BiVO4 photoanodes toward efficient photoelectrochemical water splitting and CO2 reduction: A comprehensive review

Abstract

Photoelectrochemical (PEC) water splitting, and carbon dioxide (CO2) utilization devices have attracted immense attention as sustainable technologies for the generation of hydrogen (H2) fuel and value-added chemicals feedstock. Among numerous semi-conductors, bismuth vanadate (BiVO4) has emerged as a promising photoanode owing to its fascinating features such as high chemical stability, straddling band alignment with water redox levels, eco-friendly, and cost-effectiveness. However, sluggish oxidation kinetics, photo-corrosive nature, low electronic conductivity, and short carrier diffusion length limit its commercialization on the PEC horizon. To mitigate these inadequacies, several strate-gies have emerged such as novel heterojunctions, doping with unique materials, interface modulation, morphology, facet orientation, co-catalyst loading for surface engineering, etc. to realize the outstanding cost-to-efficiency ratios and long-term stability of PEC devices. The review highlights the recent advancement in BiVO4-based photoanodes in last five years (2018-2022) and their utilization in the single absorber and unexplored tandem PEC systems towards boosted water splitting and CO2 reduction. A discussion on theoretical studies of BiVO4-based PEC systems elucidates the microscopic mechanism of promotion effect of the bulk/interface/surface strategies on surface catalysis as well as interfacial charge transfer in boosting oxidation kinetics. Moreover, this review addresses the versatility of the BiVO4-based photoanode for the novel yet commercially viable PEC ap-plications. This review will provide a broad avenue in designing highly durable, and scal-able BiVO4-based systems toward various PEC energy conversion devices.(c) 2022 Hydrogen Energy Publications LLC. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.