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Preparation of CuS/BiVO4 thin film and its efficacious photoelectrochemical performance in hydrogen generation

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Abstract

To drive photoelectrochemical water splitting on porous BiVO4 photoanode, we herein prepared a carnation-like CuS powder by hydrothermal method and then loaded it onto BiVO4 photoelectrode. Expectedly, the CuS/BiVO4 composite not only presents a higher photocurrent response value at 1.23 V versus RHE (reversible hydrogen electrode) than pure BiVO4 electrode under visible light irradiation, but also exhibits an excellent photoelectrochemical hydrogen production activity in comparison with either the BiVO4 or the CuS. The high ameliorated performance of CuS/BiVO4 composite may be due to the strong absorption of visible light and an effective abatement in combination of carriers. These results demonstrate an effective potential approach to design and construct efficient photoelectrochemical (PEC) systems.

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Acknowledgements

This work was financially supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Nos. 21663027 and 21808189), the Natural Science Foundation of Gansu Province (No. 18JR3RA090) and the Opening Project of Key Laboratory of Green Catalysis of Sichuan Institutes of High Education (No. LYJ18205).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Chang’an University, Xi’an, 710064, China

    Qi-Zhao Wang

  2. College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Northwest Normal University, Lanzhou, 730070, China

    Yuan Li, Jing-Wei Huang, Lei Wang, Hou-De She & Qi-Zhao Wang

  3. State Key Laboratory of Petroleum and Petrochemical Pollution Control and Processing, Lanzhou Petrochemical Research Center, PetroChina, Lanzhou, 730060, China

    Yue Yang

  4. Key Laboratory of Green Catalysis of Higher Education Institutes of Sichuan, Sichuan University of Science and Engineering, Zigong, 643000, China

    Jun-Bo Zhong

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  1. Yuan Li
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Correspondence to Qi-Zhao Wang.

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Li, Y., Yang, Y., Huang, JW. et al. Preparation of CuS/BiVO4 thin film and its efficacious photoelectrochemical performance in hydrogen generation. Rare Met. 38, 428–436 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12598-019-01224-3

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