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Surface modification by ligand growth strategy for dense copper bismuth film as photocathode to enhance hydrogen production activity

  • Research Article
  • Special Column: Toward Carbon Neutrality by Artificial Photosynthesis
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Abstract

Hydrogen production from photoelectrochemical (PEC) water splitting has been regarded as a promising way to utilize renewable and endless solar energy. However, semiconductor film grown on photoelectrode suffers from numerous challenges, leading to the poor PEC performance. Herein, a straightforward sol-gel method with the ligand-induced growth strategy was employed to obtain dense and homogeneous copper bismuthate photocathodes for PEC hydrogen evolution reaction. By various characterizations, it was found that the nucleation and surface growth of CuBi2O4 layer induced by 2-methoxyethanol ligand (2-CuBi2O4) demonstrated a decent crystallinity and coverage, as well as a large grain size and a low oxygen vacancy concentration, leading to the good ability of light absorption and carrier migration. Consequently, under simulated sunlight irradiation (AM1.5G, 100 mW/cm2), the 2-CuBi2O4 photocathode achieved an enhanced photocurrent density of −1.34 mA·cm−2 at 0.4 V versus the reversible hydrogen electrode and a promising applied bias photon-to-current efficiency of 0.586%. This surface modification by ligand growth strategy will shed light on the future design of advanced photoelectrodes for PEC water splitting.

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Acknowledgements

This work was financially supported by the National Key R&D Program of China (Grant No. 2022YFB3803600), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. U20A20246), and the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities, China.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology, College of Physical Science and Technology, Central China Normal University, Wuhan, 430079, China

    Zhouzhou Wang, Qingwei Wu, Jieming Wang & Ying Yu

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  1. Zhouzhou Wang
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  2. Qingwei Wu
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  3. Jieming Wang
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  4. Ying Yu
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Correspondence to Ying Yu.

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Wang, Z., Wu, Q., Wang, J. et al. Surface modification by ligand growth strategy for dense copper bismuth film as photocathode to enhance hydrogen production activity. Front. Energy 18, 89–100 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11708-023-0893-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11708-023-0893-5

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