Bera, Susmita and Ghosh, Srabanti and Shyamal, Sanjib and Bhattacharya, Chinmoy and Basu, Rajendra Nath (2019) Photocatalytic hydrogen generation using gold decorated BiFeO3 heterostructures as an efficient catalyst under visible light irradiation. Solar Energy Materials and Solar Cells, 194. pp. 195-206. ISSN 0927-0248

PDF - Published Version Restricted to Registered users only Download (2740Kb) | Request a copy

Abstract

Perovskites based oxides materials with a suitable energy level have been considered as efficient photocatalysts for solar hydrogen generation. Gold nanoparticles (Au NPs)-sensitized BiFeO3 (BFO) perovskite heterostructures was synthesized, characterized and tested for hydrogen generation under visible light (λ > 420 nm) irradiation. Au/BFO heterostructures was synthesized using a facile hydrothermal method followed by radiolysis without using any surfactant or strong reducing agent. The shape-dependent photocatalysis revealed that the BFO octahedron (BFO-Oct) exhibited higher hydrogen generation (1.4 mmol h–1 g–1) than the BFO nanosheets (BFO-Ns)(1.1 mmol h–1 g–1) and BFO cylindrical shaped (BFO-Cyl) (0.5 mmol h–1 g–1). After radiolytic construction of the Au/BFO heterostructure, more efficient hydrogen generation was obtained due to the photoinduced electron transfer. The photoresponse of the Au/BFO heterostructures was also assessed in terms of the photocurrent via photoelectrochemical (PEC) measurement which showed Au/BFO-Ns generated higher photocurrents than BFONs by a factor of ∼3.8. The Nyquist plot demonstrated facile charge transfer of BFO-Ns after formation of heterojunction with Au NPs. The Mott–Schottky plot revealed that catalysts are n-type and photo generated charge carrier concentration has been increased for Au/BFO heterostructures (0.92×1017 cm−3) compared to pure BFO (0.47×1017 cm−3). On the basis of experimental results, the enhanced photocatalytic activities of Au/BFO heterostructures could be ascribed to the significant visible light absorption and the efficient charge carrier separation. This study offers a new route to design noble metal modified perovskites based heterostructure as photocatalysts for water splitting.

Item Type:	Article
Subjects:	Electronics
Divisions:	Fuel Cell and Battery
Depositing User:	Bidhan Chaudhuri
Date Deposited:	29 May 2019 10:24
Last Modified:	29 May 2019 10:24
URI:	http://cgcri.csircentral.net/id/eprint/4161

Actions (login required)

View Item