Fabrication of BiVO4 photoanode cocatalyzed with NiCo-layered double hydroxide for enhanced photoactivity of water oxidation

Modifying a semiconductor photoanode with an oxygen evolution cocatalyst is an effective method for improving the photoelectrochemical (PEC) water decomposition efficiency. Here, PEC efficiency of BiVO4 electrode is enhanced by constructing a NiCo-LDH/BiVO4 heterojunction. Under the synergistic effect of NiCo-LDH and BiVO4, the photocurrent, incident photon-to-current conversion efficiency and hydrogen production of NiCo-LDH/BiVO4 electrode have been significantly improved, which are mainly attributed to the enhancement of internal light absorption, photogenerated carriers transfer and separation.