Double-Deck Inverse Opal Photoanodes: Efficient Light Absorption and Charge Separation in Heterojunction

• DOI: 10.1021/cm502073d
• Publication Date: 2014-09-25T19:04:06Z
• Authors: Ming Ma; Jung Kyu Kim; Kan Zhang; Xinjian Shi; Sung June Kim; Jun Hyuk Moon; Jong Hyeok Park
• Keywords: 01 natural sciences; 0104 chemical sciences

For the first time, double-deck WO3/BiVO4 inverse opal photoanodes (DDIO-WO3/BiVO4) were prepared by swelling–shrinking mediated polystyrene template synthetic routes, and the use of the photoanodes in photoelectrochemical cells under simulated solar light was investigated. The double-deck photoanodes represented the compact interface between WO3 and BiVO4, inheriting the periodically ordered macroporous nanostructure. More significantly, the DDIO-WO3/BiVO4 inverse opal photoanodes prepared from the optimized fabrication condition demonstrated a photocurrent that was ∼40 times higher than that of the pure inverse opal WO3 photoanodes at a bias of 1.23 V vs RHE. Even without an added catalyst, they produce an outstanding photocurrent density of ∼3.3 mA/cm2 at a bias of 1.23 V vs RHE, which profits from improving the poor charge carrier mobility of BiVO4 by combining it with a WO3 skeleton and a shrouded bilayer inverse opal structure with a large surface area and good contact with the electrolyte.