{"database":"biostudies-literature","file_versions":[],"scores":null,"additional":{"submitter":["Nga TTT"],"funding":["Ministry of Science and Technology"],"pagination":["3659"],"full_dataset_link":["https://www.ebi.ac.uk/biostudies/studies/S-EPMC9609331"],"repository":["biostudies-literature"],"omics_type":["Unknown"],"volume":["12(20)"],"pubmed_abstract":["Bismuth vanadate (BiVO<sub>4</sub>) has attracted substantial attention on account of its usefulness in producing hydrogen by photoelectrochemical (PEC) water splitting. The exploitation of BiVO<sub>4</sub> for this purpose is yet limited by severe charge recombination in the bulk of BiVO<sub>4</sub>, which is caused by the short diffusion length of the photoexcited charge carriers and inefficient charge separation. Enormous effort has been made to improve the photocurrent density and solar-to-hydrogen conversion efficiency of BiVO<sub>4</sub>. This study demonstrates that modulating the composition of the electrode and the electronic configuration of BiVO<sub>4</sub> by decoration with silver nanoparticles (Ag NPs) is effective in not only enhancing the charge carrier concentration but also suppressing charge recombination in the solar water splitting process. Decoration with a small number of Ag NPs significantly enhances the photocurrent density of BiVO<sub>4</sub> to an extent that increases with the concentration of the Ag NPs. At 0.5% Ag NPs, the photocurrent density approaches 4.1 mA cm<sup>-2</sup> at 1.23 V versus a reversible hydrogen electrode (RHE) under solar simulated light illumination; this value is much higher than the 2.3 mA cm<sup>-2</sup> of pure BiVO<sub>4</sub> under the same conditions. X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS) is utilized to investigate the electronic structure of pure BiVO<sub>4</sub> and its modification by decoration with Ag NPs. Analytical results indicate that increased distortion of the VO<sub>4</sub> tetrahedra alters the V 3d-O 2p hybridized states. Additionally, as the Ag concentration increases, the oxygen vacancy defects that act as recombination centers in BiVO<sub>4</sub> are reduced. In situ XAS, which is conducted under dark and solar illumination conditions, reveals that the significantly enhanced PEC performance is attributable to the synergy of modulated atomic/electronic structures and the localized surface plasmon resonance effect of the Ag nanoparticles."],"journal":["Nanomaterials (Basel, Switzerland)"],"pubmed_title":["Effect of Ag-Decorated BiVO<sub>4</sub> on Photoelectrochemical Water Splitting: An X-ray Absorption Spectroscopic Investigation."],"pmcid":["PMC9609331"],"funding_grant_id":["MOST 110-2112-M-032-013-MY3, MoST 109-2124-M-009-002-MY3"],"pubmed_authors":["Chen CL","Yeh PH","Nga TTT","Chiou JW","Du CH","Dong CL","Chou WC","Huang YC","Pong WF","Arul KT","Chen JL","Lin BH"],"additional_accession":[]},"is_claimable":false,"name":"Effect of Ag-Decorated BiVO<sub>4</sub> on Photoelectrochemical Water Splitting: An X-ray Absorption Spectroscopic Investigation.","description":"Bismuth vanadate (BiVO<sub>4</sub>) has attracted substantial attention on account of its usefulness in producing hydrogen by photoelectrochemical (PEC) water splitting. The exploitation of BiVO<sub>4</sub> for this purpose is yet limited by severe charge recombination in the bulk of BiVO<sub>4</sub>, which is caused by the short diffusion length of the photoexcited charge carriers and inefficient charge separation. Enormous effort has been made to improve the photocurrent density and solar-to-hydrogen conversion efficiency of BiVO<sub>4</sub>. This study demonstrates that modulating the composition of the electrode and the electronic configuration of BiVO<sub>4</sub> by decoration with silver nanoparticles (Ag NPs) is effective in not only enhancing the charge carrier concentration but also suppressing charge recombination in the solar water splitting process. Decoration with a small number of Ag NPs significantly enhances the photocurrent density of BiVO<sub>4</sub> to an extent that increases with the concentration of the Ag NPs. At 0.5% Ag NPs, the photocurrent density approaches 4.1 mA cm<sup>-2</sup> at 1.23 V versus a reversible hydrogen electrode (RHE) under solar simulated light illumination; this value is much higher than the 2.3 mA cm<sup>-2</sup> of pure BiVO<sub>4</sub> under the same conditions. X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS) is utilized to investigate the electronic structure of pure BiVO<sub>4</sub> and its modification by decoration with Ag NPs. Analytical results indicate that increased distortion of the VO<sub>4</sub> tetrahedra alters the V 3d-O 2p hybridized states. Additionally, as the Ag concentration increases, the oxygen vacancy defects that act as recombination centers in BiVO<sub>4</sub> are reduced. In situ XAS, which is conducted under dark and solar illumination conditions, reveals that the significantly enhanced PEC performance is attributable to the synergy of modulated atomic/electronic structures and the localized surface plasmon resonance effect of the Ag nanoparticles.","dates":{"release":"2022-01-01T00:00:00Z","publication":"2022 Oct","modification":"2025-04-18T21:23:21.656Z","creation":"2025-04-07T09:18:26.086Z"},"accession":"S-EPMC9609331","cross_references":{"pubmed":["36296846"],"doi":["10.3390/nano12203659"]}}