Facile preparation of BiVO4 nanoparticle film by electrostatic spray pyrolysis for photoelectrochemical water splitting

•BiVO4 nanoparticle film was successfully fabricated by electrostatic spray pyrolysis.•The best performing photocurrent density can reach to 0.8 mA/cm2.•The fabrication strategy (electrostatic spray pyrolysis) was presented in detail.•The influence of the substrate temperature and the Bi/V ratio were investigated.

Bismuth vanadate has a band structure that is well-suited for potential use as a photoanode in solar water splitting. Here we describe the successful fabrication of a densely uniform BiVO4 nanoparticle film on fluorine-doped tin oxide coated glass based on an electrostatic spray pyrolysis process. The deposition temperature and the mole ratio of Bi/V were controlled to find the optimal preparation condition. The optimized thin film has a monoclinic crystal structure, and the diameter of the nanoparticles is about 20–80 nm. Under simulated AM 1.5G illumination, the best performing photocurrent density can reach to 0.8 mA/cm2 at an applied potential of 1.9 V versus RHE while the corresponding average incident photon to current conversion efficiency within the absorption range is ∼5%. Besides, the synthesis details discussed in this work can provide a generic route for preparing other binary oxide films.

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