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Photoelectrochemical property of the BiOBr-BiOI/ZnO heterostructures with tunable bandgap

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Abstract

Layered BiOBr-BiOI composites with tunable bandgap were deposited onto ZnO nanowire arrays by spin-coating. The prepared BiOBr-BiOI/ZnO heterostructures were characterized by X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, UV-visible absorption, and photoelectrochemical response. The bandgap of the BiOBr-BiOI can be tuned by varying the ratio of BiOBr/BiOI. The BiOBr-BiOI composites were proved to be n-type semiconductors, which serve as sensitizers in the BiOBr-BiOI/ZnO heterostructures. BiOBr-BiOI/ZnO heterostructures show much higher visible light photoelectrochemical activity than ZnO nanowire arrays because of the visible light absorption of BiOBr-BiOI and the formation of heterojunction between BiOBr-BiOI and ZnO, which reduces the recombination of photogenerated electrons and holes. In addition, the bandgap of BiOBr-BiOI directly affects the photoelectrochemical performance of the BiOBr-BiOI/ZnO heterojunctions. The smaller bandgap of the BiOBr-BiOI is, the more visible light is absorbed and the higher photoelectrochemical performance of the BiOBr-BiOI/ZnO heterojunctions achieves. The BiOBr-BiOI/ZnO heterostructures can be developed for application in water splitting and other optoelectrical devices.

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Acknowledgments

The authors thank the National Natural Science Foundation of China (no. 21003051, 21273080, and 21043005) for financial support.

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  1. School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, South China University of Technology, 381 Wushan Road, Guangzhou, 510640, People’s Republic of China

    Yu-Xiang Yu, Wei-Xin Ouyang & Wei-De Zhang

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Correspondence to Yu-Xiang Yu or Wei-De Zhang.

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Yu, YX., Ouyang, WX. & Zhang, WD. Photoelectrochemical property of the BiOBr-BiOI/ZnO heterostructures with tunable bandgap. J Solid State Electrochem 18, 1743–1750 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10008-014-2402-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10008-014-2402-6

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