Abstract:
My PhD research primarily focused on the different strategies and methodologies employed for the development of an efficient photo-electrocatalyst for enhanced water oxidation performances. The semiconductor materials (photoanodes) were mainly synthesized by hydrothermal and/or electrodeposition methods. The working electrodes were utilized for photoelectrochemical analysis in neutral medium electrolyte.
The chosen metal oxide based photoanodes for water splitting were WO3 and BiVO4. The monoclinic WO3 nanoblocks were synthesized directly over fluorine doped tin oxide (FTO) substrate without the aid of any seed layer, whereas the monoclinic BiVO4 photoanodes were synthesized by electrodeposition method. The electronic structure modulation of WO3 was carried out by the In3+ metal doping for high carrier density. The modification of WO3 with hexagonal boron nitride quantum dots (h-BNQDs) was demonstrated to improve the photogenerated electron−hole separation and additionally to hinder the charge recombination process. The type-II heterojunction based electrostatic attraction between PNDs and BDs was introduced for WO3 based PEC water oxidation application. The boron nitride nanoplatelets (BNNPs) hole extractor was inserted in between BiVO4 semiconductor and CoCr-layered double hydroxides (CoCr-LDH) surface oxygen evolution catalyst for amplified photoelectrochemical water oxidation performance.
